Topline
Countries with state subsidies for abortion, transgender-friendly policies for children, hate speech laws and affirmative action policies will now be considered to be violating human rights under rules imposed at the State Department that will impact how the agency conducts its annual Human Rights Report.
Key Facts
The State Department has issued new guidance to embassies, consulates and diplomats involved in compiling its annual report on global human rights abuses with instructions to note countries with state sponsored abortion policies and to report on the estimated number of abortion performed in a country per year, multiple outlets reported.
The new guidance also includes instructions to report any diversity, equity and inclusion laws in the workplace, any policies that support gender transition surgeries for children and any policies that facilitate mass migration into other countries.
Also targeted are so-called “hate speech laws,” like the internet safety laws adopted by some European countries to deter online hate speech, which the human rights report will now consider violations of free speech.
Tommy Pigott, deputy spokesperson at the State Department said that “new destructive ideologies have given safe harbor to human rights violations” around the globe in recent years, adding “enough is enough.”
Critics have said Trump’s changes to the human rights report are disregarding longheld universal standards in the field in efforts to push the administration’s agenda.
The new guidance comes months after the first human rights report under the Trump administration was issued and found to be roughly one-third the length of reports in years past and excluded things like poor prison conditions in El Salvador and violations of the freedom to peacefully assemble in China.
Get Forbes Breaking News Text Alerts: We’re launching text message alerts so you’ll always know the biggest stories shaping the day’s headlines. Text “Alerts” to (201) 335-0739 or sign up here.
Chief Critic
Former senior State Department official and head of the Human Rights First charity Uzra Zeya told the BBC that the rules reflect “jaw-dropping” animosity towards LGBTQ+ people and said “attempting to label DEI as a human rights violation sets a new low in the Trump administration’s weaponization of international human rights.” Amanda Klasing of Amnesty International USA told AFP, a global news agency, that the new standards “send the message that the US no longer believes in the foundational element of the human rights system it helped build.”
