The U.N. deputy high commissioner for human rights, Kate Gilmore, said the increasingly stringent abortion laws and provisions in the U.S. are “deeply distressing” and equated them to torture.
“We have not called it out in the same way we have other forms of extremist hate, but this is gender-based violence against women, no question,” Gilmore, 61, told the Guardian. “It’s clear it’s torture – it’s a deprivation of a right to health.”
She also blasted U.S. interest groups behind the push for stricter laws, saying that the groups, which are largely conservative and religious, are well organized and ignoring science in favor of pushing an ideological point.
“It’s an assault on truth, science and universal values and norms,” she said. “You’re entitled to your own opinion, but you’re not entitled to your own facts.”
There is a growing slate of Republican-led states across the country passing strict abortion laws, with Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signing a bill that bans abortion in almost every situation. Louisiana and Georgia have also passed strict bills in recent weeks. There has been pushback from pro-abortion supporters, with Hollywood threatening to withdraw from filming in Georgia over the stringent rules.
