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For Immediate Release
July, 22 2015, 03:15pm EDT
Contact:
Email:,center.press@reprorights.org
Seventy-One Human Rights Organizations Call on President Obama to End Unnecessary Reproductive Health Restrictions That Harm Women
As President Obama makes official visits to Kenya and Ethiopia this week, a broad-based coalition of leading domestic and global organizations are calling on him to put an end to the incorrect implementation of the Helms Amendment in order to save women's lives and protect their health.
WASHINGTON
As President Obama makes official visits to Kenya and Ethiopia this week, a broad-based coalition of leading domestic and global organizations are calling on him to put an end to the incorrect implementation of the Helms Amendment in order to save women's lives and protect their health.
In an open letter, the coalition asks President Obama to meet with the U.S. government's partners implementing health and gender-based violence programs in Kenya and Ethiopia, local community organizations, and the women they serve, in order to see why it's imperative that the Obama Administration address its flawed implementation of the Helms Amendment.
The Helms Amendment prohibits the use of U.S. foreign assistance funds "to pay for the performance of abortions as a method of family planning." Although abortion in Kenya is allowed in cases of rape, incest and when the health or life of a pregnant woman is in danger, women are still unable to access legal abortion services. Unsafe abortion is a leading cause of maternal mortality, and Kenya and Ethiopia are among the 24 USAID priority countries in which 70 percent of maternal deaths worldwide occur.
"While nearly 300,000 women in developing countries continue to die needlessly from unsafe abortion every year, the United States' flawed interpretation of the Helms Amendment denies critical funding to local organizations that could help women get the safe care they need, " said Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights.
"In Kenya, maternal deaths and injuries can and must be prevented," added Evelyne Opondo, regional director for Africa at the Center. "President Obama has been a champion for women's health in the United States, so we now call on him to take a stand for women worldwide and fix the Helms Amendment."
The letter provides further background on the groups' concerns, stating that women in Kenya, Ethiopia and around the world face high rates of gender-based violence, limited access to trained health care providers, and financial and geographic barriers to access comprehensive reproductive health care, including safe and legal abortion. Every year, an estimated 287,000 women die from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth - 13% of those deaths are the result of unsafe abortion. Close to half of those who die from unsafe abortion are younger than the age of 25. While no single policy can address the broad challenges that affect women in developing countries each day, the administration can take an important step by correcting its implementation of the Helms Amendment.
Kenya's 2010 constitution eased the country's severe restrictions on abortion, legalizing safe abortion services when the life or health of a woman is in danger and in cases of emergency--a measure aimed at decreasing the country's high rates of maternal mortality and morbidity resulting from unsafe abortion. However, Kenyan women continue to be deprived of essential reproductive health services--including quality maternal health care and safe and legal abortion services. This is due to a variety of factors, including the misapplication of the Helms Amendment and the arbitrary withdrawal of the government's guidelines for reducing morbidity and mortality from unsafe abortion and a ban on safe abortion trainings for health care professionals, which has led to great confusion as to when legal abortions can be provided.
The Center for Reproductive Rights filed a petition last month against Kenya's Ministry of Health for undermining women's constitutional rights and contributing to cases of maternal death by denying countless women, including rape survivors, access to safe, legal abortion.
The Center has worked for more than a decade across the continent of Africa to advance women's access to reproductive health care through law and policy reform. In 2010, the Center published the report In Harm's Way, which documented the devastating effects of the criminalization of abortion in Kenya before the law was reformed, and demonstrated how the weaknesses in Kenya's health care system are further exacerbated when it comes to a reproductive health that is perceived as illegal and highly stigmatized.
The Center for Reproductive Rights is a global human rights organization of lawyers and advocates who ensure reproductive rights are protected in law as fundamental human rights for the dignity, equality, health, and well-being of every person.
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In 'Lawless, Vile Act,' Trump Admin Sanctions UN Expert Critical of Israeli Genocide in Gaza
One critic said Secretary of State Marco Rubio's "crude effort" to sanction Francesca Albanese "only serves to establish that the U.S. is an international outlaw."
Jul 09, 2025
Defenders of Palestine and the rule of law on Wednesday condemned Secretary of State Marco Rubio's announcement of sanctions targeting United Nations expert Francesca Albanese, one of the most outspoken critics of Israel's U.S.-backed genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.
In a post on the social media site X, Rubio said he is imposing sanctions on Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, "for her illegitimate and shameful efforts to prompt International Criminal Court action against U.S. and Israeli officials, companies, and executives."
"Albanese's campaign of political and economic warfare against the United States and Israel will no longer be tolerated," Rubio added. "We will always stand by our partners in their right to self-defense. The United States will continue to take whatever actions we deem necessary to respond to lawfare and protect our sovereignty and that of our allies."
"Mr. Rubio, with this post you have sealed your legacy as an enemy of international law and basic human decency."
Rubio's announcement came a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza including murder and forced starvation—met with President Donald Trump and other U.S. officials in Washington, D.C.
Trump and the fugitive Israeli leader reportedly discussed plans for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza and a deal to secure the release of the 22 remaining living hostages believed to be held by Hamas and the bodies of over two dozen others.
The Trump administration previously sanctioned ICC officials including Prosecutor Karim Khan for issuing arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
Albanese has accused Israel of violating the Genocide Convention since early 2024. Last week, she asserted that "Israel is responsible for one of the cruelest genocides in modern history."
"The situation in the occupied Palestinian territory is apocalyptic," she said. "In Gaza, Palestinians continue to endure suffering beyond imagination."
Israel's 642-day assault and siege on Gaza—which is the subject of an ongoing International Court of Justice genocide case—has left more than 209,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, whose figures have been deemed accurate by Israeli military intelligence and peer-reviewed studies, at least two of which concluded the official death toll is likely an undercount.
U.N. experts, jurists, genocide scholars including numerous numerous Jews in Israel and around the world, national leaders, and human rights groups including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Jewish Voice for Peace, and CodePink are among those accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza.
Responding to Rubio's announcement, Amnesty International secretary general Agnès Callamard said on social media that "Francesca Albanese is working tirelessly to document and report on Israel's unlawful occupation, apartheid, and genocide, on the basis of international law."
"Governments around the world and all actors who believe in the rule-based order and international law must do everything in their power to mitigate and block the effect of the sanctions against Francesca Albanese and more generally to protect the work and independence of special rapporteurs," she added.
Medea Benjamin, co-founder of highlighted the movement to nominate Albanese for the Nobel Peace Prize, which stands in stark contrast with Netanyahu's dubious nomination of Trump for the award.
U.S. human rights attorney Craig Mokhiber—who in October 2023 resigned from his U.N. post over what he called the world body's inaction in the face of "a genocide unfolding before our eyes"—accused Rubio of "a lawless, vile act."
"Your arrogance will catch up to you," Mokhiber added. "The impunity that you are enjoying now will be gone within a few years, and I am confident that you will be held accountable for your persecution of human rights defenders and for your violations of the human rights of countless people in the U.S. There are millions who will work to ensure it."
Laura Boldrini, a lawmaker from Albanese's native Italy and former U.N. human rights official, said on social media that Rubio's move is "a disgrace that cannot be ignored."
"Albanese's latest report, which lists the companies involved in the illegal annexation policies of the West Bank carried out by the Israeli government, has clearly hit the mark," she added. "It is no longer just a matter of political interests, but also economic ones. And this, for Netanyahu and Trump, is truly too much. Nothing and no one must disturb business: not even the denunciation of a genocide and the illegal occupation of another people's territories."Arab American Institute founder James J. Zogby contended that Rubio's "crude effort to sanction U.N. human rights champion Francesca Albanese and the International Criminal Court only serves to establish that the U.S. is an international outlaw."
"Israel is violating international law and human rights, and the U.S. is enabling it," he added. "It's a disgrace."
Trita Parsi, co-founder and executive director of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, noted that the Trump administration this week removed al-Qaeda-linked militants who toppled the regime of longtime Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from the U.S. list of foreign terrorist organizations, but is sanctioning a U.N. human rights official.
"Let that sink in," Parsi said.
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Calling Bolsonaro Trial a 'Witch Hunt,' Trump Threatens Brazil With 50% Tariffs
"The reason why this is happening, not so subtly alluded to by Trump, is because Brazil actually held its right-wing coup leader accountable," said one critic.
Jul 09, 2025
After days of publicly railing against Brazil for the trial of its former leader, Jair Bolsonaro, U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened the South American country with a 50% tariff "on any and all Brazilian products sent into the United States."
Far-right Bolsonaro, sometimes called the "Trump of the Tropics," lost Brazil's 2022 presidential election to leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the recipient of the Wednesday letter that the U.S. president posted on his Truth Social network.
Bolsonaro is now facing a trial for alleged crimes, including an attempted coup d'état, following his reelection loss. The Brazilian's effort to cling to power was called "straight from Donald Trump's playbook," with critics worldwide pointing to the U.S. leader inciting the January 6, 2021 insurrection after his own electoral loss the previous November.
"This is a disgrace, just old-fashioned imperialism. A 50% tariff because Brazil's legal system has defended democracy."
In Truth Social posts on Monday and Tuesday, Trump blasted the trial as a "WITCH HUNT" and an "attack on a Political Opponent" while praising Bolsonaro as a "strong Leader, who truly loved his Country" and a "very tough negotiator on TRADE."
Echoing those posts, Trump wrote to Lula: "The way Brazil has treated former President Bolsonaro, a Highly Respected Leader throughout the World during his Term, including by the United States, is an international disgrace. This Trial should not be taking place. It is a Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY!"
"Due in part to Brazil's insidious attacks on Free Elections, and the fundamental Free Speech Rights of Americans (as lately illustrated by the Brazilian Supreme Court, which has issued hundreds of SECRET and UNLAWFUL Censorship Orders to U.S. Social Media platforms, threatening them with Millions of Dollars in Fines and Eviction from the Brazilian Social Media market), starting on August 1, 2025, we will charge Brazil a Tariff of 50%," Trump continued.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes, the Brazilian Supreme Court justice overseeing Bolsonaro's case, was also involved in a legal battle that temporarily shut down the social media platform X in Brazil. The network, formerly known as Twitter, is owned by estranged Trump ally Elon Musk, the richest man on Earth. The weekslong suspension of X last year stemmed from the company's refusal to comply with an order to deactivate dozens of accounts accused of spreading disinformation.
Both Trump and Elon have used their power and platforms to go after Brazil. When Musk did it last year I spoke with some Brazilian media experts and journalists who explained that Brazil actually takes online disinformation and threats to their democracy seriously www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcn...
[image or embed]
— Kat Tenbarge (@kattenbarge.bsky.social) July 9, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Trump claimed in his letter to Lula that "these Tariffs are necessary to correct the many years of Brazil's Tariff, and Non-Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers, causing these unsustainable Trade Deficits against the United States. However, The Guardian noted, "the U.S. runs a trade surplus with Brazil, thanks in part to a free-trade agreement expanded in 2020, during Trump's first term."
The newspaper pointed to data on Brazil from the website of United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer:
U.S. total goods trade with Brazil were an estimated $92 billion in 2024. U.S. goods exports to Brazil in 2024 were $49.7 billion, up 11.3% ($5.0 billion) from 2023. U.S. goods imports from Brazil in 2024 totaled $42.3 billion, up 8.3% ($3.2 billion) from 2023. The U.S. goods trade surplus with Brazil was $7.4 billion in 2024, a 31.9% increase ($1.8 billion) over 2023.
Various journalists and other critics also highlighted the surplus. Michael Reid, a writer and visiting professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said on social media: "This is a disgrace, just old-fashioned imperialism. A 50% tariff because Brazil's legal system has defended democracy. And by the way, the U.S. has a trade surplus with Brazil."
Politico reported that "the overtly political tone of the letter is a break with more than a dozen other letters Trump has sent to foreign governments this week, threatening to impose new tariff rates on their exports to the U.S. beginning August 1."
While Trump's letter to Brazil has overtly political motivations, he also said during a Tuesday Cabinet meeting that he would target the entire BRICS economic group of emerging market nations, which began with Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, and now also includes Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates.
"If they're a member of BRICS, they are going to have to pay a 10% tariff, just for that one thing—and they won't be a member long," Trump said, according to CNN. "BRICS was set up to hurt us, BRICS was set up to degenerate our dollar and take our dollar, take it off as the standard."
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NYC's Congestion Pricing Has Caused 'Quality-of-Life Improvement' in Just Six Months
After six months, the policy of tolling drivers has reduced traffic and raised hundreds of millions of dollars for the city's transit system. But the Trump administration is still trying to shut it down.
Jul 09, 2025
New York City's congestion pricing program has now been in place for six months as of Saturday, and according to state officials, it has already proven remarkably successful. It has survived despite efforts by the Trump administration to shut it down.
The program, which tolls drivers who drive through designated "congestion zones" below 60th Street in Manhattan has dramatically reduced traffic, which in turn has sped up commute times, reduced pollution, and raised hundreds of millions of dollars for the city's Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).
"Six months in, it's clear: congestion pricing has been a huge success, making life in New York better," Governor Kathy Hochul (D) said Saturday. "In New York, we dare to do big things, and this program represents just that—traffic is down throughout the region, business is booming, transit ridership is up, and we are making historic upgrades to our transit system."
Since the program started, the number of vehicles driving through the congestion zone has decreased by 11%, with a total of 10 million fewer cars having entered compared to last year. In just the first three months of the program, traffic in the congestion zone sped up by 15%.
This has led to reduced wait times for commuters, not just in the congestion zone but in surrounding areas like the Bronx and Bergen County, New Jersey.
The number of crashes is down 14% in the congestion area, while traffic fatalities have reached "historic lows" citywide.
The data has also borne out the predictions from environmentalists and public transit activists who said the program would reduce pollution, both by capping the number of cars on the road and funding long-term investment in the public transit system.
The MTA is on track to raise $500 million from congestion pricing in 2025, as was projected when the policy went into effect. The agency also reports that subway and bus usage have gone up since congestion pricing began, while service speed has improved to "near record levels."
Beyond improving convenience, data shows the program is already improving quality of life in other ways. Early estimates from a working paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research show that within the first month of congestion pricing, CO₂ emissions from vehicles decreased by 2.5% with other forms of air pollution and soot levels also declining. These numbers will likely continue to rise as public transit usage expands.
Ben Furnas, executive director of Transportation Alternatives, a New York-based pro-transit group that supported congestion pricing, told The Guardian that the program exceeded his already-high expectations.
"It's been even more obviously beneficial than even the most fervent proponents had hoped, and there have been really tangible improvements that are really gratifying," he said. "Reducing pollution is often seen to involve a lot of sacrifices, but this has been different. People can see the improvements to their lives. There was this cynical assumption that this was a bullshit charge and life will stay the same, but that assumption has gone away now."
During the tumultuous year leading up to congestion pricing's implementation, business groups raised fears that charging drivers would bankrupt small business owners. Hochul even blocked the policy from going into effect for months last year, citing those concerns.
Trump's Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy, has called the charge a "slap in the face to working class Americans and small business owners."
But the city reports more pedestrian traffic and faster commutes, increasing economic activity.
"Gridlock is bad for the economy," noted a statement from the state of New York. "Commuters are saving as much as 21 minutes each way. Time savings help businesses make deliveries and save costs."
The city also reports increased Broadway ticket sales, hotel occupancy, and commercial office leasing since the policy went into effect, as well as record employment figures.
Despite nearly immediate indicators of the congestion scheme's success, the Trump administration has been attempting to kill it since he returned to office in January.
"We've...fended off five months of unlawful attempts from the federal government to unwind this successful program and will keep fighting–and winning–in the courts," Hochul said.
In February, the White House infamously posted an artificially generated image of Trump wearing a crown. It quoted President Trump saying: "CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!"
That same month, U.S. Transportation Secretary Duffy withdrew federal approval for the congestion pricing pilot program, threatening to pull funding for other state transportation projects if it was not halted.
But a U.S. district judge issued a temporary restraining order in May that has, for the time being, halted the Trump administration's efforts.
Attempts to kill the program may prove more difficult in the future, as it has overcome initial skepticism to grow broadly popular with a majority of New Yorkers. Hochul herself was once among those skeptics, but she has grown to become one of its greatest champions.
"You are seeing in the governor… the zeal of the convert," said Daniel Pearlstein, a spokesperson for the pro-transit Riders Alliance.
"People who had their doubts, they saw it up close. They saw it working," he said. "They are saving New Yorkers and people from New Jersey valuable time every single day. Who would want to rip that away?"
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