The United States took a lonely stand Monday against the United Nation’s General Assembly in a vote on the Global Compact on Refugees and on concerns about language related to abortion.
Hungary was the only country to join the United States in voting against an annual resolution on the work of the U.N. refugee agency which included approval of the compact on refugees. The resolution was approved with 181 countries voting in favor and three abstaining.
The U.S. explained its opposition to the compact, arguing that it represents “an effort by the United Nations to advance global governance at the expense of the sovereign right of States to manage their immigration systems in accordance with their national laws, policies, and interests.”
Reuters noted on Monday that the U.S. also “unsuccessfully tried to remove two paragraphs from a General Assembly resolution on preventing violence and sexual harassment of women and girls. It was the only country to vote against the language, while 131 countries voted to keep it in the resolution and 31 abstained.”
This was part of their campaign against the ambiguous terms of “sexual and reproductive health” and “sexual and reproductive health-care services.”
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The U.S. explained earlier this month that the language has “accumulated connotations that suggest the promotion of abortion or a right to abortion that are unacceptable to our administration.”
“As has been made clear over many years, there was international consensus that these documents do not create new international rights, including any “right” to abortion,” they emphasized. “The United States fully supports the principle of voluntary choice regarding maternal and child health and family planning. We do not recognize abortion as a method of family planning, nor do we support abortion in our global health assistance.”
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