Progressivism’s pro-abortion imperialism

President Joe Biden boasts that he has made defending democracy against autocracy the theme of his foreign policy. And yet, the State Department is now pushing woke ideology on other nations, undermining democratic processes in what amounts to ideological colonization. Crystallizing this, early this month, U.S. Ambassador Michèle Taylor sought to use American power to pressure the small African nation of Benin to abandon its life-affirming declarations and embrace abortion rights.

At the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR), Ambassador Taylor argued that Benin should abandon the Geneva Consensus Declaration. The full title is the Geneva Consensus Declaration on Promoting Women’s Health and Strengthening the Family, signed on Oct. 22, 2021. The effort was led by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during the Trump administration. It is a voluntary declaration, of which the United States was an initial member. Lamentably, one of Joe Biden’s first actions as president was to withdraw the United States from the declaration.

Among other things, the voluntary statement rightfully rejects the claim that abortion is an international right. It affirms that “all are equal before the law,” and “human rights of women are an inalienable, integral, and indivisible part of all human rights and fundamental freedoms.” The part that the American abortion lobby—the engine of progressive activism—finds intolerable is that it affirms that “every human being has the inherent right to life” and “in no case should abortion be promoted as a method of family planning.” Further, the document states that if the country decides to alter abortion laws “any measures or changes related to abortion within the health system can only be determined at the national or local level according to the national legislative process.”

The United States has given aid to Benin in order to assist the nation as it fought to free itself from the violence of military coups and Marxist-Leninist rule. It has only been a democracy since 1990, and has made remarkable progress towards security and dynamic democratic governance. Nevertheless, it is, like most nations, conservative when compared to the anti-Christian extremism of the activists within America’s State Department.

There is something uniquely offensive and tragic about U.S. representatives using American power, famously a bulwark against Communism and repression, to pressure an anti-Marxist African country to embrace policies that are, at root, Marxist and antithetical to the natural family. There is no healthy self-governing society without intact communities that support the flourishing of the natural family.

By pressuring Benin to abandon the Geneva Consensus Declaration, the State Department is undermining that nation’s sovereignty. The pressure to conform to western progressivism is hard to resist. Even while remaining committed to the Declaration, Benin has already liberalized its abortion laws, likely under the influence of the African affiliate of International Planned Parenthood (IPPF).

If it wasn’t enough that the Biden administration is using its power to undermine the sovereignty of another nation, it is also undermining American security interests. China and Russia, the top two strategic adversaries of the United States, are exploiting the continent of Africa.

The continent is blessed with critical rare earth elements such as cobalt, copper, and lithium. These elements are critical for producing everything from weapons to renewable energy. In their determined efforts to amass wealth and power, China and Russia are working hard to secure mining deals throughout Africa.

Authoritarian countries are exploiting cheap labor, weak governments, and scant regulations in resource-rich nations. China exploits African nations through dishonest infrastructure deals in its Belt and Road Initiative, and the Russians are pillaging resources using violent mercenary groups. It is a modern-day gold rush for our most powerful enemies. China and Russia are increasingly collaborating to undermine the United States so that they—and not the United States and our traditional mores of freedom, equality, and self-determination—have the most influence worldwide.

The United States should be outcompeting our enemies for access and influence in Africa. We can do this in part by offering better deals to African governments, embracing geopolitical pluralism, and not pressuring or harassing nations to eschew their traditions, conservative principles, and cultures. 

To meddle in another nation’s domestic matters in order to pressure the government to accept the views of a faction of left-wing zealots is immoral. This approach abuses U.S. power, and undermines U.S. national security goals. In every respect, the Biden administration’s approach in this situation is just plain wrong.