Trump admin takes back leadership of pro-life Geneva Consensus Declaration

(LifeSiteNews) – The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) affirmed on Wednesday the United States’ acceptance of its role as the next rotating Secretariat of the Geneva Consensus Declaration, affirming support for the right to life around the world.

Under the first Trump administration, the United States first signed the document in 2020, along with 31 other nations. It declares “the essential priority of protecting the right to life” and promoting “strength of the family and of a successful and flourishing society”; that “every human being has the inherent right to life”; and that “in no case should abortion be promoted as a method of family planning” and that “any measures or changes related to abortion within the health system can only be determined at the national or local level according to the national legislative process.” Today it boasts the signatures of more than 40 nations.

In a joint statement from HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Trump administration announced the Secretariat will be housed in HHS’s Office of Global Affairs and will “carry this work forward through a whole-of-government” toward “supporting families, promoting women’s health, and protecting children at all stages of life.”

The Well reports that the previous secretariat, Hungary, ceded its leadership position after “Prime Minister Péter Magyar’s government has announced plans to dismantle or review institutions associated with the former government’s family-policy and anti-abortion agenda.” Hungary remains a signatory to the declaration.

“As the Secretariat of the Geneva Consensus Declaration returns to the United States, we express our deep appreciation to Hungary for its exceptional stewardship,” Kennedy and Rubio said. “Hungary has faithfully safeguarded the Declaration and its principles, and we are grateful for its leadership and commitment to expanding the Declaration’s signatories.”

The Geneva Consensus coalition stands as a stark contrast to the abortion activism of many international institutions. The United Nations has long been notorious for pushing a pro-abortion agenda from a pretext of “human rights,” from criticizing nations that ban abortions to attempting to establish an international “right” to abort, all while taking a selective approach to actual human rights violations from offending nations such as China, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela.

Within weeks of returning to office, President Donald Trump began enforcing the Hyde Amendment against direct funding of most abortions domestically, reinstated the Mexico City Policy, which forbids non-governmental organizations from using taxpayer dollars for most abortions abroad, and cut millions in pro-abortion subsidies by freezing U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) spending.

But while it continues to reject an international right to abortion, it also allowed a one-year moratorium on Planned Parenthood’s federal funding to expire, and has yet to rescind Biden-era rules that enable abortion pills to be dispensed by mail. It says it is conducting a review of abortion pill safety data that could lead to a rule change sometime after the fall midterm elections.