Biden administration pushes abortion and secrecy in new pandemic treaty

(C-Fam, Geneva) The Biden administration has pushed for abortion in a controversial new global health treaty. The Biden negotiators also insisted that the negotiations remain secret away from the American people.

U.S. Ambassador Pamela K. Hamamoto called for the new World Health Organization pandemic treaty to include an obligation to provide “sexual and reproductive health services” as essential health care services during pandemics in the U.S. opening statementof negotiations this week.

“A commitment to equity must address inequities not just between countries, but also within them, not just protecting people from pandemics but also from illness, death, and disrupted access to essential health care services during pandemics, including sexual and reproductive health services,” the U.S. Ambassador said, adding that the U.S. expects this commitment to equity to be integrated “across the draft” of the pandemic treaty.

At the close of the negotiations today Hamamoto agreed with China that negotiations and future versions of the draft treaty should not be open to the public. “I think at this stage I have some concerns about sharing the draft to all stakeholders given where we are in the process,” she said.

Hamamoto explained that her real concern was keeping U.S. proposals secret from Americans.  “Certainly, if we are sharing it with all stakeholders, we would support removing the attribution of member states,” she said.

The EU representative disagreed with the Biden position, telling delegates that the European Union would like more transparency to avoid “misunderstandings and potential misinformation,” and that it would share EU comments and positions publicly.

The new pandemic treaty is controversial because of the far-reaching implications the treaty would have for national health policies, including abortion policy….

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Editor’s Note: Stefano Gennarini, J.D. writes for C-Fam. This article first appeared in the Friday Fax, an internet report published weekly by C-Fam (Center for Family & Human Rights), a New York and Washington DC-based research institute (https://c-fam.org/). This article appears with permission.”

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