US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has issued a rare statement on a Supreme Court ruling following the reversal of Roe v Wade - reaffirming in clear language that his department “will not waver” from its commitment to reproductive health care.
The Supreme Court on Friday reversed nearly 50 years of legal abortion facilitated by the 1973 Roe v Wade decision, leaving it up to the states to decide and paving the way for several to automatically enact trigger bans.
“As Secretary of State, I usually avoid commenting on Supreme Court rulings,” Mr Blinken said Friday. “But today’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade has raised understandable questions and concerns across the world and within our workforce.
“So let me be clear: under this Administration, the State Department will remain fully committed to helping provide access to reproductive health services and advancing reproductive rights around the world. And this Department will do everything possible to ensure that all our employees have access to reproductive health services, wherever they live.
“We will not waver from this commitment.”
The State Department has thousands of employees working across the US in addition to other countries. Its Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), for example, incorporates 29 domestic offices - including six in states that have already implemented abortion bans.
The Department did not immediately respond to a request from The Independent about whether it was putting plans in place to prepare for employees living in those states who may need to access abortions in the future.
