Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar spoke on Monday morning at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. During his remarks he strongly condemned efforts to provide international access to abortion.
Azar also told the United Nations General Assembly that abortion is not an international right. Azar condemned the use of “ambiguous terms and expressions such as ‘sexual and reproductive health and rights’ in U.N. documents.”
“There is no international right to an abortion, and these terms should not be used to promote pro-abortion policies and measures,” Azar said. “Further, we only support sex education that appreciates the protective role of the family in this education.”
Azar’s comments are in reference to a letter written jointly in July with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on international partnerships. Secretary Azar states that “the ultimate goal that… nations have working toward at the U.N…. [is] the highest attainable standard of mental and physical health for every person.” Azar continued:
“This morning the United States was joined by 18 other nations, representing more than 1.3 billion of the world’s population, in issuing a joint statement respectfully calling on member states to join us in concentrating on topics that unite rather than divide on the critical issues surrounding access to healthcare.”
In his comments, Azar also said:
Healthcare exists to improve health and preserve human life—the universal goal we all share.
President Trump and I are working to deliver better health for the United States, and the United States stands ready to assist countries as they work toward better health for all of their people.
According to the Daily Caller News Foundation, twenty-one countries have now signed the joint statement. The Daily Caller News Foundation has more:
“At the time of the Secretary’s speech yesterday, it was 19,” a spokeswoman for HHS said Tuesday. “Afterwards, the [Democratic Republic of the Congo] and Uganda also signed on. This statement was joined by diverse geographical and cultural traditions comprising four of the six key [World Health Organization] regional global divisions – making it especially strong.”
