'Disgraceful': US accused of using coronavirus to promote 'pro-life' agenda in letter telling UN abortion is not 'essential'

Foreign aid agency demands United Nations remove references to sexual and reproductive health in global Covid-19 response plan

A US foreign aid agency has warned the United Nations to stop "promoting" abortion and has denied that sexual and reproductive health is "essential" care.

In a letter to UN secretary-general António Guterres, the acting administrator for the US Agency for International Development (USAID) said that the UN should not use the coronavirus pandemic "as an opportunity to advance access to abortion as an 'essential service'" during the crisis.

John Barsa accuses the UN of "cynically placing the provision of 'sexual and reproductive health services' on the same level of importance as food insecurity, essential health care, malnutrition, shelter, and sanitation" in a Covid-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan.

Mr Barsa also criticised the plan's "egregious" call "for the widespread distribution of abortion-inducing drugs and abortion supplies, and for the promotion of abortion in local country settings" in the plan.

His letter reminds the UN that the US delivered $3.5 billion to the international body in 2019 — following Donald Trump's threats to end $400 million in aid to the UN's World Health Organisation as the president and his allies accused the agency of "covering up" the viral outbreak that has led to the deaths of nearly 90,000 Americans while defecting criticism for downplaying the threat and callous dismissal of its devastating impact.

In his letter, Mr Barsa hailed the president's anti-abortion agenda, saying that the president "has made clear that we will never tire of defending innocent life" and warning the UN against "intimidating" member states "that are committed to the right to life".

Mr Barsa wrote: "To achieve global unity towards this goal, it is essential that the UN's response to the pandemic avoid creating controversy. Therefore, I ask that you remove references to 'sexual and reproductive health' and its derivatives from the Global HRP, and drop the provision of abortion as an essential component of the UN's priorities to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic."

He added that "now is not the time to add unnecessary discord" to the pandemic response.

March for Women's Lives: History in pictures

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March for Women's Lives: History in pictures

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• 1/20 2004 

  Thousands rally in Washington DC on 25 April for the March for Women's Lives in favour of abortion rights

  AFP/Getty

• 2/20 2004 

  Thousands rally in Washington DC on 25 April for the March for Women's Lives in favour of abortion rights

  Getty

• 3/20 2004 

  Thousands rally in Washington DC on 25 April for the March for Women's Lives in favour of abortion rights

  Getty Images

• 4/20 2004 

  Thousands rally in Washington DC on 25 April for the March for Women's Lives in favour of abortion rights

  AFP/Getty

• 5/20 2004 

  Demonstrators participating in the March for Women's Lives make their way over the Brooklyn Bridge to a rally at New York City Hall on 28 August 2004

  AP

• 6/20 2004 

  A demonstrator punches an effigy of President Bush as thousands take part in the March For Women's Lives

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• 7/20 2004 

  Anti-abortion counter-protesters oppose the March For Women's Lives in Washington DC

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• 8/20 2004 

  A police officer stands between two priests outside the US Supreme Court during the March for Women's Lives in Washington DC

  AFP/Getty

• 9/20 2004 

  Pro-choice activists shout slogans during the March For Women's Lives

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• 10/20 2004 

  The 2004 March for Women's Lives on the National Mall in Washington DC

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• 11/20 2017 

  Protesters gather during the Women's March on Washington on 21 January

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• 12/20 2017 

  Protesters gather during the Women's March on Washington on 21 January

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• 13/20 2017 

  Protesters gather during the Women's March on Washington on 21 January

  AFP/Getty

• 14/20 2018 

  A woman shouts as she attends the Womens March on New York on 20 January 

  AFP/Getty

• 15/20 2018 

  Protesters hold up placards during the Women's March in London on 21 January

  AFP/Getty

• 16/20 2018 

  Protesters hold signs as they attend the Womens March on New York on 20 January

  AFP/Getty

• 17/20 2018 

  Protesters hold signs near the White House following the Women's March on Washington on 20 January

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• 18/20 2018 

  A young protester hold up placards during the Women's March in London on 21 January

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• 19/20 2019 

  Protesters rally at the Womens March on Washington on 19 January

  AFP/Getty

• 20/20 2019 

  Protesters rally at the Womens March on Washington on 19 January

  AFP/Getty

 

 

Akila Radhakrishnan, president of the Global Justice Centre, called the USAID's demands "a disgraceful and dangerous attack on essential health services at the worst possible time".

"No matter what the US government says, abortion is a fundamental human right and reproductive care is always essential, including during a pandemic," Ms Radhakrishnan said in a statement. "At a time when countless lives are at risk, the US has yet again decided to put its efforts into restricting healthcare instead of expanding it."

Mr Barsa's letter follows the administration's attempts to hold aid funds "hostage" to "serve its extreme anti-abortion agenda" on the global stage.

Several US states have moved to ban abortion services during the public health crisis under statewide orders to cancel "nonessential" medical procedures while their governments are embroiled in legal battles to shutter clinics over restrictive legislation despite constitutional protection that ensures access to abortion care.