US Challenges WHO Over Support for Abortion

28.05.2018

The United States warned the World Health Organization (WHO) this week that it should stop its abortion activism. In two pointed statements, the US delegation said that the bureaucracy at WHO must respect international consensus reached on sexual and reproductive health, and that abortion is not a human right.

Led by Kevin Moley, Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations, the US delegation expressed "deep concern" abou the activities of a little-known but highly influential research arm of WHO’s reproductive health department, called the Program on Human Reproduction.

The US also complained that the Program for Human Reproduction gives “elevated status” to one non-governmental organization, understood as a reference to the International Planned Parenthood Federation, “to operate on an equal footing with governments and international organizations seemingly to the exclusion of other viewpoints.”

The US also rebuked the WHO for its understanding that sexual and reproductive health includes abortion, a position that is at odds with the international consensus.

The US censure comes at the same time that WHO leadership is pushing abortion more openly than in the past. WHO’s executive director, Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus has not followed his predecessor’s approach of balancing the views of liberal donor countries and traditional recipient nations. In comments on the secretariat’s Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health, he included a reference to the controversial term “safe abortion.” In their statements this week, nations only “noted” the strategy and did not endorse it. In reply, the secretariat “noted” country concerns with it but said it would move ahead in providing reproductive health care services in humanitarian settings anyway.

C-Fam. May 25.

C-Fam. May 25.