UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A U.S. threat to veto U.N. Security Council action on sexual violence in conflict was averted on Tuesday after a long-agreed phrase was removed because President Donald Trump’s administration sees it as code for abortion, diplomats said. A German-drafted resolution was adopted after a reference was cut referring to the need for U.N. bodies and donors to give timely “sexual and reproductive health” assistance to survivors of sexual violence in conflict. Ambassador to the United Nations Jonathan Cohen did not speak after the council vote. “Please do not even try to paint us as opponents of the fight against sexual violence in conflict. The Trump administration cut U.S. funding in 2017 for the U.N. Population Fund because it “supports, or participates in the management of, a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization.” The United Nations said that was an inaccurate perception.

Source: Huffington Post April 24, 2019 07:52 UTC