Foreign Affairs: Giving Up the High Ground
Sarah Margon, Washington director of Human Rights Watch

“…In country after country, the Trump administration is gutting U.S. support for human rights, the rule of law, and good governance, damaging the overarching credibility of the United States. … On foreign policy, … the administration has dismissed or damaged the global human rights framework. … [The Trump administration] has put in place policies that set back the rights of women and girls around the world. … [P]erhaps the greatest threat to women will come from Trump’s expansion of the so-called Mexico City policy … The United States is by far the world’s largest health donor, so the rule will inflict untold harm on women, girls, and their families. It will likely hinder hard-fought progress on health care in poor and middle-income countries, particularly those that rely heavily on U.S. resources. Affected health programs may have to cut not only their family planning offerings but also services linked to child health, including vaccinations and the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis. … It stands to reason that an expanded version of the policy will lead to even more preventable maternal deaths, due to an increase in both unplanned pregnancies and unsafe abortions — to say nothing of its effect on efforts to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and child malnutrition. … [U]nless it changes course dramatically, the Trump administration — and the president himself — will remain one of the greatest threats to human rights in decades” (March/April 2018).