World Health Organisation head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Friday expressed his disdain over the US Supreme Court's decision to strike down the nearly 50-year-old ruling that federally protected the right to abortion in the country.
“I am very disappointed, because women’s rights must be protected. And I would have expected America to protect such rights,” he said to Reuters while attending a conference in Rwanda.
The decision will now allow individual US states to decide whether women can have access abortions or not, with some already enacting bans after the ruling.
“It is a huge blow to women’s human rights and gender equality,” Michelle Bachelet, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said in a statement on Friday.
“This decision strips such autonomy from millions of women in the US, in particular those with low incomes and those belonging to racial and ethnic minorities, to the detriment of their fundamental rights,” she said.
The Financial Times reported that the ruling has caused US abortion rights to go in reverse against global trends.
Ms Bachelet noted that 50 countries that had previously restricted access to abortion had made progress in the past 25 years.
Other UN agencies shared their negative responses to the decision, including UN Women.
“Reproductive rights are integral to women’s rights,” it said in a statement.
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Abortion rights activists gather outside the US Supreme Court in Washington on June 24, 2022. AP -
Pro-life demonstrators celebrate outside the Supreme Court in Washington. AP -
A pro-choice supporter cries outside the Supreme Court. AFP -
Pro-life campaigners celebrate outside the Supreme Court. AFP -
A demonstrator wears 'second class citizen' tape over her mouth outside the Supreme Court. Bloomberg -
An activist outside the Supreme Court. AP -
A woman reacts after hearing the abortion decision. AP -
Pro-life activists hug outside the Supreme Court. AFP -
A pro-life supporter reacts outside the Supreme Court. AFP -
Pro-life supporters hug outside the court. AFP -
The Supreme Court has ended constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place nearly 50 years. AP -
People celebrate outside the Supreme Court after the conservative majority overturned Roe v Wade. AP -
Pro-life supporters celebrate outside the court. AFP -
People celebrate outside the Supreme Court. AP -
Pro-choice demonstrators gather outside the Supreme Court. AFP
