This Week in Abortion: The Consensus Declaration
A collection of good reads, events from the week, and policy insights.
Happy International Women’s Day! (Also, Stop with the Pink!)
This has been a dizzying week, from drawing back US support for Ukraine (but also not) to playing spin the bottle on tariffs. But, it’s not just this week, here are some more of the international partnerships that President Trump has shut down or attacked so far:
Paris Agreement: As it did in Trump’s first term, the U.S. is exiting the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit global warming. (He has not left the underlying UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which would require Senate sign off.)
Just Energy Transition Partnership: This week, the administration announced it was leaving this program, through which richer nations are helping countries transition from coal to cleaner energy - South Africa, Vietnam, and Indonesia were the first beneficiaries.
World Health Organization: Trump has announced his intentions to withdraw from WHO, though it’s not clear he can right now. Liechtenstein is the only UN member nation that is not part of WHO.
USAID: He has cut off USAID and State Department programs. (Some of them might be paid out.)
NATO: The administration has hinted at the possibility of leaving NATO.
There is only ONE international pact that the Trump administration has joined, and it’s a clear sign that his administration is not just tearing things down for shits and giggles, it’s reorienting US foreign policy towards socially conservative values.
The Geneva Consensus Declaration
The “Geneva Consensus Declaration,” was originally initiated and signed by the first Trump administration in 2020. President Biden withdrew from it a few months later.
In January, Sec. of State Marco Rubio announced the US would rejoin the Consensus Declaration.
The title seems designed to mimic the Geneva Convention and the Geneva Consensus Foundation. It has nothing to do with either and it wasn’t technically signed in Geneva. So I'm removing any borrowed legitimacy. From here on out I’m dropping “Geneva”. I encourage anyone else writing about it to do the same.
The Consensus Declaration similarly misuses text from within United Nations’ documents, to campaign against safe and accessible abortion.
We, ministers and high representatives of Governments…express…the essential priority of protecting the right to life,…in solidarity, we…
…Emphasize that “in no case should abortion be promoted as a method of family planning”
…Reaffirm that “the family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State”...Furthermore, we, …declare in mutual friendship and respect, our commitment to work together to:...Reaffirm that there is no international right to abortion, nor any international obligation on the part of States to finance or facilitate abortion...Support the role of the family as foundational to society and as a source of health, support, and care; and Engage across the UN system to realize these universal values...
FULL TEXT HERE
As I read it, the thrust of the Declaration is that women deserve equal rights, but we mostly deserve to be mothers. And, for most women abortion should not be an option. If a country chooses, it shouldn’t be an option for any woman, even in cases when it is medically necessary.
You know what, I’ll let the anti-abortion ADF explain:
“By rejoining the Geneva Consensus Declaration and reinstating the expanded Mexico City Policy, the United States is committing to advancing a pro-life stance on the world stage…(Elyssa Koren, an international human rights lawyer for ADF International.)”
There are 39 signatories to the Consensus Declaration. Not one of our top 15 trading partners (75 percent of overall trade) has signed on. Instead, the list includes Russia along with Saudi Arabia, the Central African Republic, Chad, Belarus, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, seven of the 20 worst-rated countries on The Economist’s Democracy Index.
Who cares?
The Consensus Declaration is just that, a declaration. The document is not binding, no officials are named, and there is no ratification required. But, at a time when the US is stepping back from diplomatic, liberty-minded, leadership and pushing away longtime allies, the symbolism is potent. It also won’t surprise you to learn that all of this is dictated in Project 2025.
Every time Trump tears something down, something else is replacing it. We have to keep asking what that is, demanding that those stories get told, and asking ourselves and our communities if this is truly a reflection of a creative, vibrant, multi-faceted us.
More Good Reads
Reproductive Health Care and Job Decisions Poll [IWPR]
Trump nominee to head up FDA won’t make any commitments on abortion pill access [States Newsroom]
Trump's FDA Pick Drops Critical Hint On Abortion Pills [Jessica Valenti]
The States
Arizona
👍Arizona’s 15-week abortion ban is now ‘permanently and forever’ struck down [AZ Mirror]
👎Advocates express concerns over recent Arizona bills that would limit reproductive care [Cronkite News]
Florida
👎Anti-abortion ‘Baby Olivia’ video could be mandated viewing in Florida public schools [Florida Phoenix]
Idaho
👍Idaho hospital moves forward with emergency abortion care case despite DOJ dismissal [States Newsroom]
👍Senate committee kills bill to subsidize crisis pregnancy centers in Idaho [Idaho Capital Sun]
Michigan
👍Following Trump pardons of anti-abortion protestors, Pohutsky introduces clinic obstruction bills [Michigan Advance]
Missouri
👍Abortion care has resumed in Missouri after voters enshrined rights. Providers fear it won’t last [The Hill] (Note: operations are still pretty limited)
👎Abortion ban advances in Missouri Senate after GOP critic of rape exception quits committee [Missouri Independent]
👎Proposed Missouri Tax Shelter Would Aid the Wealthy, Anti-Abortion Centers Alike [Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy]
Montana
👍Montana abortion ‘trafficking’ bill gets voted down in Republican-dominated committee [Montana Free Press]
Texas
👍Second San Antonio council committee vote advances $100,000 abortion travel fund (that probably won’t pay for much travel) [Texas Public Radio]
Wyoming
The Consensus Declaration is a serious part of the Trump 2.0 Foreign policy, here is what CFR had to say: Despite years of participation, the U.S. government chose not to be a member of this year’s 69th Commission on the Status of Women. It did attend the monthlong deliberations and, by several accounts, worked to remove and alter language in the final declaration. Jonathan Shrier, acting U.S. representative to the UN Economic and Social Council, explained the U.S. position through its support for the Geneva Consensus, a group opposed to reproductive rights. The United States would not endorse this year’s UN declaration, he said, because the U.S. "is committed to defending women’s safety through the protection of their health. In rejoining the Geneva Consensus Declaration" https://www.cfr.org/blog/beijing30-global-summit-womens-equality