Author: Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday the United States was rejoining an international agreement that critics say aims to limit access to abortion for millions of women and girls around the world.
“Today, the United States notified the signatories of the Geneva Consensus Declaration of our intent to rejoin immediately,” Rubio said in a statement late Friday.
The Geneva Consensus Declaration (GCD) was co-sponsored by the United States, Brazil, Uganda, Egypt, Hungary and Indonesia in 2020 when Trump was in office during his first term.
His administration said at the time that the GCD sought better health care for women and the preservation of human life, while strengthening the family as the fundamental unit of society and protecting the sovereignty of every nation.
The group now has more than 35 signatories.
The State Department said on Friday that one of the pact’s four goals was to “protect life at all stages.”
Abortion has been a divisive issue in American politics. In 2022, the US Supreme Court ruled to abolish abortion rights across the country.
