U.S. Capitol This Week Mar 25-29
U.S. Department of State
A report was released on the latest State Department grant which aims to push for so-called LGBT rights in Chad. However, this time it was not through education or AIDS grants but through theater. The peculiar grant follows the example of similar programs like the ones in France, and Belgium that used public money to help “fight racism and discrimination through theater” or to educate Bosnians about “tolerance and intercultural cooperation,” federal grant listings show.
On March 14th, Ambassador Dr. John Nkengasong, the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, discussed the new Foreign Ministry Channel for Global Health Security initiative. He wanted to combat so-called misinformation and disinformation in health issues and use emerging technologies to boost “global health security.” This is becoming increasingly common, with the latest Equity Action Report calling for monitoring and tracking “anti-rights groups and movements to better inform targeted interventions and engagement.” The label of “anti-rights” is increasingly being used as an alternate name for pro-life and pro-family organizations.
The Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) “Reproductive Health Services" Interim Final Rule was accepting public comments. Now it has closed its comments period and finalized the rule “without changes” to its problematic initial form, where also a so-called right to abortion was enforced. The VA disregarded the Veterans Health Care Act of 1992, which excluded abortion from the health services it would provide.
The Biden administration argues that the 1996 version of the Act does not explicitly prohibit abortion, and has not done so for the past 27 years. This move by the VA sets a dangerous precedent, completely and purposefully avoiding established law and bypassing the legislative process to impose their anti-life policy. While this change would primarily impact domestic affairs, it illustrates the anti-life advocates’ strategy that C-Fam has been cautioning against since 2010.
The White House
There are developments on the White House’s Declaration for the Future of the Internet. The Department of State recently published a new U.S. and EU Guideline for Online Platforms on Protecting Human Rights Defenders Online. It requires technology companies to abide by the United Nations (UN) Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and, where applicable, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Guidelines on Responsible Business Conduct for Multinational Enterprises. Further, it ties the U.S. to definitions of “Human Rights Defenders” by the OHCHR and the EU. This would give the power to define what is an HRD and how to protect one to partners that were not voted into power by the American people. While the guidance is not supposed to impose or supersede requirements under U.S. or EU law," unspoken agreement among countries can be considered grounds for customary international law.
On March 11th, the Presidential Budget for 2025 was released and it’s stuffed with issues that directly go against the right to life. It disregards the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits the use of federal funds to pay for abortion. Its removal would set a dangerous precedent that could impact the Helms Amendment, the international restriction of funds for abortion. It asks $44.5 million for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) which has been found to support China’s population control program of forced abortion and sterilization.
