Revealed: the fringe rightwing group changing the UN agenda on abortion rights

[EleanorR]

Last spring, Laurie Shestack Phipps, a diplomat at the US mission to the UN, received a set of talking points from the state department before an international women’s conference, setting out clear red lines against mention of “sexual and reproductive health” care.

This had become the norm in the Trump administration, where the once uncontroversial phrase was seen as code for abortion. Use of the word “gender” was also strongly discouraged, as it was viewed as a stalking horse for LGBT rights.

It was no surprise that Phipps’ colleague, Bethany Kozma, a political appointee at the US agency for international development, had the same text. What was shocking was that she heard exactly the same words coming from the Yemeni spokesman for the Arab Group.

Most striking of all – the shared script was already familiar. It had been circulated before the conference by an anti-abortion lobbying group called the Center for Family and Human Rights, or C-Fam.

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/may/16/cfam-rightwing-white-house-anti-abortion-un

This is a long article, but I recommend reading every word. We need to know what we're up against so we can fight.

[Solly Mack]

1. K&R

[EleanorR]

2. of course there's a russia connection

With a modest budget and a six-strong staff led by the president Austin Ruse, it has leveraged connections inside the Trump administration to enforce a rigid orthodoxy on social issues, and helped build a new US coalition with mostly autocratic regimes that share a similar outlook.

-snip-

Ruse has helped forge a partnership between US social conservative groups and Orthodox “pro-family” church organisations in Russia with close ties to Vladimir Putin. He met and praised Konstantin Malofeev, a Russian oligarch with extensive ties to the European far-right, for “working to bring Russian Orthodox and US Christians closer together.

[northoftheborder]

3. Very depressing but not surprising

[EleanorR]

4. it's clear that Nikki Haley is no champion of women

And despite trying to distance herself from trump, it appears she's just another corrupt toady who helped undermine women's rights worldwide while at the UN.