PRIORITIES

Report: Women’s Rights Get Downgraded in State Department Report

Spokesperson says it’s for the sake of “clarity” in an annual human-rights report.

State Department officials have reportedly been instructed to shorten passages on women’s rights and discrimination in an upcoming annual human-rights report, Politico reports, citing current and former officials. The directive, thought to stem from a top aide to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, reportedly targets passages that traditionally focus on family-planning issues, including women’s access to contraceptives and birth control. A section detailing racial, ethnic, and sexual discrimination will also be cut down, according to the report. Concerns have arisen over lackluster efforts by the Trump administration to stand up for human rights, particularly women’s rights. “This sends a clear signal that women’s reproductive rights are not a priority for this administration, and that it’s not even a rights violation we must or should report on,” one current State Department official told Politico. It was not immediately clear how drastic the cuts would be, but a State Department spokesperson said the changes were in the interests of “clarity.”