POLITICO: Global health organizations condemn State Department directive
“More than 150 organizations that deal with human rights, health, and development issues co-signed a letter to the State Department expressing concern toward the department’s decision to pare back ‘critical language’ in its annual report on global human rights. … The State Department is following a directive to eliminate sections of the annual report regarding societal views on family planning. A section of the report on racial, ethnic, and sexual discrimination will also be trimmed. … State Department spokesman Heather Nauert said officials ‘will sharpen the focus of the report on abuses of internationally recognized human rights and the most egregious issues,’ however the 166 co-signing organizations expressed concerns that the decision will change the way the U.S. government reports on women’s health…” (Goldberg, 2/26).