Reproductive Rights are Human Rights Act of 2025
H.R. 4888, the Reproductive Rights are Human Rights Act of 2025, would amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to require the U.S. Department of State’s Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices to include a detailed, country-by-country assessment of reproductive rights. The bill embeds reproductive rights as a core human rights issue in U.S. foreign policy reporting, drawing on international standards (ICCPR, GC 36, WHO guidelines) and existing human rights commitments. It directs the inclusion of specific data and narratives about access to contraception and reproductive health services, abortion access and post-abortion care, maternal health outcomes, discrimination and coercion related to reproductive health, and disparities in access by race, disability, LGBTQI+ status, and other marginalized groups. The aim is to increase accountability and transparency in how governments in the reporting countries promote or restrict reproductive rights, and to influence U.S. diplomacy, policy, and potentially foreign aid priorities accordingly. In addition to expanding what is reported, the bill requires a formal consultation process with U.S. civil society groups, multilateral organizations, local NGOs, and relevant U.S. government agencies to inform the reports. The act explicitly anchors reproductive rights within human rights discourse, citing past international commitments and guidelines, and it highlights concerns about the potential impact of policy changes on global reproductive health outcomes and development.
Key Points
- 1Adds a new required section in Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices specifically describing the status of reproductive rights in each country, including policies on contraception, sexual health information, safe pregnancy and childbirth care, STI care, and abortion/post-abortion care.
- 2Requires detailed data on maternal health outcomes and causes of pregnancy-related injuries and deaths (including unsafe abortions), as well as information on discrimination, coercion, and violence related to reproductive health, including in detention settings and for people with disabilities.
- 3Requires reporting on access to family planning: the proportion of people of reproductive age whose needs are met with modern methods, barriers to access, denials of information or services, and government actions to address these issues; and to describe disparities by race, ethnicity, disability, LGBTQI+ status, language, religion, age, marital status, and other identities.
- 4Mandates inclusion of the effects of laws and policies that expand or restrict abortion access, including post-abortion care, and whether pregnancy-related outcomes (like miscarriages) are criminalized or penalized.
- 5Establishes a formal consultation process in preparing reports with U.S. civil society, international organizations, local NGOs, and relevant U.S. government offices that monitor reproductive health, to inform and shape the Annual Country Reports.