Center for Reproductive Rights v. U.S. Department of State
The Center for Reproductive Rights filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Department of State (DOS) for refusing to release records related to the deletion of the reproductive rights subsection from DOS’s 2017 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices (HRRs).
The 2017 HRRs, published on April 20, 2018 omitted all mention of reproductive rights from the 195 country reports in direct contravention of Congress’s mandate that DOS report on “all the available information about observance of and respect for human rights” “without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion. . . .”
The Center filed its initial FOIA request with DOS in June seeking to obtain information on why Trump administration officials decided to unilaterally remove this vital information from the 2017 HRRs, despite the fact that comprehensive reproductive rights data had already been collected and included in the draft 2017 HRRs per DOS instructions and consistent with past HRRs.
DOS has effectively ignored the Center’s request, leading to the Center’s decision to sue for the information. Gibson, Dunn &, Crutcher LLP will represent the Center in the lawsuit.
Plaintiff(s): The Center for Reproductive Rights
Attorney(s): Katherine Smith, Wendy Miller, and Mia Donnelly of Gibson, Dunn &, Crutcher LLP
