The federal agency responsible for providing humanitarian assistance abroad is pushing back on the United Nations for deeming abortion access an essential health service amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Earlier this year, the U.N. provided $2 billion to help fight COVID-19 in 51 vulnerable countries across South America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
The aid goes in support of sexual and reproductive health services, mental health, psychosocial support, and overall management of noncommunicable diseases.
John Barsa, acting administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development, sent a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday, advising the organization not to advance access to abortion during this time.
Barsa writes that it is “cynical” to place the provision of sexual and reproductive health services on the same tier of need as other healthcare, food insecurity, and sanitation.
The administrator also accused the U.N.’s Global Humanitarian Response Plan of distributing abortion-inducing drugs and supplies to help promote the practice in local country settings.
“To use the COVID-19 pandemic as a justification to pressure governments to change their laws is an affront to the autonomy of each society to determine its own national policies on health care,” Barsa wrote. “The United States stands with nations that have pledged to protect the unborn.”
Barsa also noted President Trump’s anti-abortion stance, saying the president addressed the U.N. has no business “attacking the sovereignty of nations that wish to protect innocent life”at the 74th U.N. General Assembly.
