Meng Condemns Trump Administration’s Attack on Women’s Reproductive Health Rights at UN

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY), a Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations, issued the following statement in response to the Trump Administration's latest attack on women's reproductive health rights.

Yesterday, the U.S. Mission to the UN threatened to veto a UN Security Council resolution on ending sexual violence in Conflict unless the reference of "sexual and reproductive health" rights was removed.

"I am furious that the U.S. Mission to the UN stripped important references to sexual and reproductive health out of the UN Security Council resolution on ending sexual violence in conflict," said Meng. "This resolution was designed to bring an end to the systematic rape and assault of women and girls in war. From the Yazidi women enslaved by ISIS to the victims of the Democratic Republic of Congo; from the armed conflicts of Rwanda to Serbia – we have seen too often some of the most horrific battles taking place on the bodies of women, girls – and even boys. That the Trump Administration diluted such an historic resolution by rejecting the critical health care needs of the survivors of sexual violence in conflict is utterly shameful and an affront to our humanity. This is yet another example of the Trump Administration's willingness to throw women – this time, survivors of wartime sexual violence – under the bus in order to pursue its extreme agenda at the United Nations."