State Department report will trim language on women's rights, discrimination

[demmiblue]

Source: Politico

State Department officials have been ordered to pare back passages in a soon-to-be-released annual report on global human rights that traditionally discuss women’s reproductive rights and discrimination, according to five former and current department officials.

The directive calls for stripping passages that describe societal views on family planning, including how much access women have to contraceptives and abortion.

A broader section that chronicles racial, ethnic and sexual discrimination has also been ordered pared down, the current and former officials said.

The move, believed to have been ordered by a top aide to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, reflects the Trump administration’s rightward turn from the Obama administration on family planning issues. It also appears to highlight the stated desire of Tillerson and President Donald Trump to make human rights a lower priority in U.S. foreign policy.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/21/department-women-rights-abortion-420361?lo=ap_e1

[riversedge]

1. Seems no one is able to stop the Trump discrimination--it just continues on and on...

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/21/department-women-rights-abortion-420361?lo=ap_e1


.....Like many Republican administrations before it, the Trump team has instituted a policy prohibiting giving U.S. aid to foreign groups that provide or promote abortions. The Trump administration went further than all of its predecessors, putting such conditions on groups that receive global health funding in general — not just money for family planning.

Tillerson and Trump have both said human rights should not block other U.S. foreign policy priorities, especially when it to comes to key allies such as Egypt or Saudi Arabia. But the administration hasn’t held back on talking about human rights when speaking out against enemies like Iran and North Korea.

Last year, Tillerson broke with tradition and chose not to personally unveil his department’s human rights report — dismaying activists and lawmakers, including Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who believe human rights should be a pillar of U.S. foreign policy.

It is unclear whether Tillerson will personally unveil this year’s report.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

3. an across the board attack

They're positively Orwellian in blocking language in government that does not promote their agenda. They're attacking science, education, rights and funding of anything except what benefits their cronies, donors and voter base.

We need to drive these fascists out then repair and fortify the damage they've done. They also need to face charges where possible so that no group in the future, riding a manufactured wave of apathy and animosity toward government, can point to this era as a net gain for them.

[Guilded Lilly]

2. Old, white, Republican...OUT. Vote Blue.