NARAL Applauds Senate's Confirmation of Antony Blinken as U.S. Secretary of State

WASHINGTON, Jan. 28 -- NARAL Pro-Choice America issued the following statement on Jan. 27:

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The Senate voted to confirm Antony Blinken as U.S. Secretary of State, an important step toward protecting and expanding access to comprehensive reproductive healthcare--including abortion care--and upholding sexual and reproductive rights around the world.

NARAL Pro-Choice American President Ilyse Hogue released the following statement in response:

"As the top U.S. diplomat, Blinken will have the opportunity to take meaningful action on the world stage to protect and expand reproductive rights and health, lead in the global fight for gender equity and LGBTQ rights, and champion reproductive freedom. His confirmation represents a meaningful departure from the Trump administration's anti-choice, regressive foreign policy agenda, and NARAL looks forward to a new era of U.S. foreign policy that prioritizes reproductive freedom and fights for gender equity."

Over the past four years, the Trump administration and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo worked to attack reproductive freedom and undermine the global fight for gender equity.

As Secretary of State, Blinken can immediately prioritize protecting and advancing reproductive freedom on the world stage by taking the following actions:

* Work with the White House and the U.S. Agency for International Development to rescind the global gag rule and undo the damage done by the Trump administration's dramatically expanded version of the policy

* Re-engage on a global scale to advance the reproductive freedom of people worldwide and leverage diplomatic capacity to urge all countries to protect and advance reproductive freedom

* Take action to re-engage fully with the United Nations, including by working with other relevant government actors to refund the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations' sexual and reproductive health agency, and champion reproductive freedom at the World Health Organization

* Abandon and disavow efforts by the Trump administration to attack reproductive freedom and the rights of LGBTQ people around the world, including by rejecting the work of the anti-choice, anti-LGBTQ Commission on Unalienable Rights and withdrawing U.S. support for the Geneva Consensus Declaration, an anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ declaration that has little support from the global community