An official appointed by President Donald Trump said during a closed-door United Nations meeting that the “US is a pro-life country”, despite the fact both the law and public opinion support a woman’s right to access legal and safe abortion.
ethany Kozma, a senior adviser in the office of Gender Equalityand Women’s Empowerment for US Agency for International Development (USAID), made the statement while countries negotiated the final document of the ongoing, annual women’s rights conference.
Two diplomats at the UN, who asked not to be named, and charities serving as UN observers, were able to confirm the comment to The Independent and Ms Kozma’s continued presence during negotiations the next day.
As part of the negotiations on the roughly 70-page outcome document, issued every year at the end of the conference, Ms Kozma and the US delegation also called for deleting any mention of the phrase “modern contraceptives” and replacing it with the phrase “family planning” in order to push policies like abstinence-only sexual education.
A US official told The Independent: “While we can’t comment on ongoing diplomatic negotiations, the multi-agency US delegation is representing the administration’s policies and priorities at the CSW [United Nations Commission on the Status of Women]. Also, in response to your question related to US support for women’s health, as the world’s largest bilateral donor to global health programmes, the US remains committed to helping women and children thrive, particularly in countries where the need is greatest.”
Read the full story at The Independent
