The Hill: State Department removes reproductive rights indicators from annual country reporting
Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights

“Last Friday’s release of the U.S. Department of State’s annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices has a gaping hole: the ‘Reproductive Rights’ section has disappeared. … With his confirmation now settled, Secretary of State Pompeo should understand — and reverse — his predecessor’s dramatic about-face in U.S. efforts to protect the rights of women. … Reproductive rights are internationally recognized human rights. It is imperative that the State Department monitors all human rights, including those most deeply affecting women. Human rights in general — and reproductive rights in particular — … are established legal obligations under international law which protect individuals all over the world from discrimination, violence, injury, and death. Failure to collect evidence of violations to reproductive rights aligns with the administration’s scornful treatment of women, survivors of sexual violence and abuse and, increasingly, the very large world beyond U.S. borders” (4/26).