Statement on the State Department’s Ongoing Destruction of Reproductive Rights

PAI is deeply alarmed by the U.S. State Department’s continued efforts under the Trump administration to minimize or eliminate reporting on reproductive rights, women’s rights, and LGBTQI rights in its annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.

Since the 1970s, these reports have been relied upon by Congress, diplomats, journalists, civil society, and the private sector as objective records shaping U.S. foreign policy and aid. Yet the Trump administration has once again chosen to redefine and omit key issues, denying the lived realities of people facing discrimination, violence, and systemic injustice worldwide.

This abdication of rights by the Trump Administration is not new. In 2018, Trump officials directed State Department staff to scale back reporting on reproductive rights, violence against women, and gender-based discrimination. The Biden administration restored comprehensive reporting, but today the Trump administration is escalating its ideological reframing of human rights.

The 2024 reports strip entire categories once considered standard—gender-based violence, reproductive health and rights, maternal health, access to contraception, and protections for at-risk communities.

“For decades, the State Department’s human rights reports have been a vital record shaping U.S. policy, diplomacy, and aid,” said Rachel Clement, Senior Director of U.S. Government Affairs at PAI. “In the 2024 reports we reviewed, critical sections on reproductive rights, women’s rights, and LGBTQI rights are missing. Omitting these facts denies lived realities and weakens accountability for systemic violence and discrimination. These reports are not meant to serve political expediency—they are meant to serve the truth, and the people whose rights and lives depend on it.”

Previously, the reproductive rights section documented access to family planning, contraception, maternal health care, and services for survivors of sexual violence. Erasing this information obscures global violations and weakens accountability. Policymakers and civil society rely on these reports to press for reform and safeguard rights.

PAI stands with members of Congress advancing the Reproductive Rights Are Human Rights Act (S. 2671, H.R. 4888), which would restore and protect comprehensive reproductive rights in State Department reporting. We urge lawmakers to pass this legislation and reaffirm the United States’ full commitment to human rights.

U.S. human rights reporting must remain comprehensive, consistent, and factual if it is to guide sound policy and uphold global standards. Restoring full reporting is essential to preserving the integrity of U.S. human rights leadership. Anything less weakens accountability, obscures abuses, and undermines U.S. credibility on the world stage.