U.S. State Department Releases 2022 Human Rights Reports
03.21.23 (PRESS STATEMENT) – Yesterday, the U.S. Department of State released the 2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices (Human Rights Reports), which includes reporting on the status of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in nearly 200 countries. The Center applauds the Biden-Harris Administration for its ongoing commitment to report on reproductive rights, counter to ongoing efforts by anti-rights groups to delegitimize and eliminate SRHR from global human rights discourse.
Statement from Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights:
“Despite devastating retrogression on access to abortion and gender-affirming care in the US, global trends show that countries are moving to liberalize abortion laws and expand access to high-quality sexual and reproductive health care – over 60 countries have liberalized access to abortion in the last 30 years. The US human rights reports provide a key resource for policymakers, advocates, and human rights bodies on the current situation of access to sexual and reproductive health services.
We urge the State Department to continue to work with civil society to strengthen and expand reporting on all services in all countries. Congress must pass the Reproductive Rights are Human Rights Act to ensure that this reporting can continue under future administrations, unimpeded by politicization or interference.”
Each spring the State Department releases these reports, which include a section that covers the status of contraception prevalence and accessibility, quality maternity care, abortion access, and access to family planning information. They are a key resource for policymakers, advocates, immigration judges, refugee and asylum officers, journalists, academics, and human rights bodies around the world. They inform policy and decision-making on a broad range of issues and advocates use them to hold governments accountable for abuses. These reports are especially valuable when inspecting the impact that ongoing global conflicts, climate disasters, rising political and economic insecurity, and the COVID-19 pandemic have on access to sexual and reproductive health services and the human rights of women, girls, and gender diverse individuals.
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