At this week’s United Nations general assembly, the Trump administration defended the right to life on an international stage, urging the UN to stop their promotion of abortion.
While President Donald Trump defended the rights of the unborn, ridiculing the U.N. for promoting abortion, Alex Azar, the United States Health and Human Services Secretary, asked the UN to remove pro-abortion language from their documents.
Azar, alongside 19 other nations, expressed their concerns with the UN’s anti-family language at the U.N. General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage in New York City Monday.
While the focus of the summit was climate control and healthcare, Azar pointed out that the documents in regards to healthcare promote abortion while simultaneously demean the family structure.
“We do not support references to ambiguous terms and expressions, such as sexual and reproductive health and rights in U.N. documents, because they can undermine the critical role of the family and promote practices, like abortion, in circumstances that do not enjoy international consensus and which can be misinterpreted by U.N. agencies,” Azar said in a statement.
He further pointed out that the verbiage used in the official UN documents promote abortion.
Azar argued that terms like “sexual and reproductive health” don’t take into account “the key role of the family in health and education, nor the sovereign right of nations to implement health policies according to their national context.”
“There is no international right to an abortion and these terms should not be used to promote pro-abortion policies and measures,” Azar added. “Further, we only support sex education that appreciates the protective role of the family in this education and does not condone harmful sexual risks for young people.”
During the remarks, Azar asked that the U.N. agencies “would focus on concrete efforts that enjoy broad consensus among member states.”
“To that end, only documents that have been adopted by all member states should be cited in U.N. resolutions,” Azar concluded.
Azar, who also represented 19 other countries, was joined with U.N. representatives from Brazil, Poland, and Iraq. Other countries who signed the statement included: Bahrain, Belarus, Brazil, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Guatemala, Haiti, Hungary, Iraq, Libya, Mali, Nigeria, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
Earlier in the summer, Azar and the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sent a letter to international leaders asking them to sign their statement which critiqued the UN’s anti-family, pro-abortion language.
The letter read:
“Efforts to advance such harmful policies in multilateral settings where global health policy is debated and set, like the United Nations and affiliated bodies such as the World Health Organization, are disturbing and must be challenged.”
“They take the focus off real health issues and import policy debates that should be handled at the national, sub-national, or community level. Furthermore, we are disappointed that the tone of these debates is increasingly divisive, diminishing the focus on shared global health priorities.”
On Monday, the General Assembly adopted an 11-page document titled: “Universal Health Coverage: Moving Together to Build a Healthier World.”
Within the 11-page document, the assembly called for “universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights” by 2030, along with universal health care.
President Trump, who gave a speech to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, sent a strongly worded message on the UN’s promotion of abortion, and where the United States stands.
“We are aware that many United Nations projects have attempted to assert a global right to taxpayer-funded abortion on demand, right up until the moment of delivery,” Trump said. “Global bureaucrats have absolutely no business attacking the sovereignty of nations that wish to protect innocent life.”
“Like many nations here today we in America believe that every child born and unborn is a sacred gift from God,” Trump added.
While President Trump and his administration received pushback from liberal groups for their anti-abortion language, many conservative leaders commended them for standing up to the U.N.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List, thanked the Trump administration for being consistent with their pro-life views.
“The Trump administration’s strong pro-life leadership on the world stage is no secret,” Dannenfelser said in a statement.
“From day one, President Trump has worked to restore respect for life as a foundational American value not only in our domestic policies but in our international relations as well. Secretaries Pompeo and Azar have played key roles in advancing the president’s pro-life agenda and deserve credit for their efforts.”