• Press Release

Geneva Consensus Declaration Tramples on Every Person’s Right to Choose

October 22, 2020

(@ Elijah Nouvelage via Getty Images)
Responding to the United States signing on to the Geneva Consensus Declaration, Tarah Demant, the Director of the Gender, Sexuality, and Identity program at Amnesty International USA said:

“Today’s news marks another giant step backwards for the United States as it joins a list of countries willingly endangering people’s health and lives. The United States’ stance flies in the face of human rights and decades of health research.  

“Every woman, girl or person who can become pregnant has the human right to abortion. Full stop. This is about people living full lives that are their own – not the lives that the government has prescribed for them. 

“This administration doesn’t seem content to stop until it has fully trampled on the rights, autonomy, and dignity of women and girls everywhere. Every person has a right to their individual personal and bodily autonomy, despite this administration wanting to prescribe otherwise.

Amnesty International USA is calling on the Department of Health and Human Services not to implement the provisions of the declaration.Amnesty International recognizes abortion as the right of anyone who can become pregnant. Amnesty International’s approach is derived from international human rights law and standards and longstanding human rights principles. The policy is based on the recognition that decisions around pregnancy and abortion directly impact the full spectrum of human rights of pregnant individuals.

Read more:

Failures to guarantee safe access to abortion in Europe endangers health of women, girls amid COVID-19 (April 8, 2020) 

COVID-19 Pandemic Doesn’t Give States The Right to Limit Abortion Access (March 25, 2020)

Deadly Abortion Bans Endanger Pregnant People’s Lives (May 15, 2019)

One Year After Trump Reinstated it, Global Gag Rule Must Go (January 22, 2018)

Media contact: Mariya Parodi, [email protected]