Catholics Welcome the Beginning of a Paradigm Shift at the United Nations

While the pro-abortion activists at the heretical organization Catholics for Choice continue to openly attack the Vatican and its status as a permanent observer at the United Nations, faithful Catholics finally have an ally with the Trump administration in the fight to obstruct the anti-life goals of the population-control zealots and gender ideologues at the United Nations. 

In a courageous address to the 58th Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly of the United Nations on March 4, 2025, Edward Heartney, a representative of President Donald Trump’s administration, rejected the U.N. 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Stating that “the government of the United States must refocus on the interests of Americans…President Trump set a clear and overdue course correction on ‘gender’ and climate ideology which pervade the SDGs.”   

Heartney reminded the General Assembly that although the Trump administration “strongly supports efforts to sustain peace and pursue diplomatic solution, Agenda 2030 and the SDGs advance a program of soft global governance that is inconsistent with U.S. sovereignty and adverse to the rights and interests of Americans.” 

Heartney’s strong statement on the importance of sovereignty and the rejection of “global governance” was followed up by an even stronger official statement to the U.N. population commission over gender ideology and “reproductive health” from Spencer Chretien, a Trump administration official at the United States State Department. According to reports by C-Fam, the Center for Family and Human Rights—a nonpartisan, nonprofit research institute that monitors and affects the social policy debate at the United Nations—Chretien stated that the United States government “rejected gender ideology extremism and had rejoined the Geneva Consensus Declaration, which states that abortion is not an international right and that the family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society.”

As an observer of the debate, C-Fam’s representative concluded that “traditional countries were grateful” for the courageous stand that the United States government took in blocking the draft of the agreement with the controversial language supporting gender ideology and abortion rights: “Nigeria said these were major red lines. Burundi lamented that the final draft of the agreement did not mention the family at all.”   

Not surprisingly, the European Union delegates to the U.N. population commission were enraged with the Trump administration. According to C-Fam, a German delegate complained about the outsized role that the United States played in an “attempt to erode our vision for the future.” He claimed that “bodily autonomy,” including through “sexual and reproductive health and rights,” was central to this vision and pledged to continue to promote abortion and gender ideology through government funding for nongovernmental organizations. Likewise, a Danish delegate promised to promote “sexual and reproductive health and rights for adolescents, clarifying further that this includes access to abortion as well as comprehensive sexuality education.”

The European delegates continue to claim that abortion is an international right—even though such statements explicitly violate previous United Nations population agreements. Yet, it took the resolve of the Trump administration, coupled with the response from the Holy See official at the U.N., to remind the delegates that true respect for sovereign states can never include an extreme definition of gender ideology and universal right to abortion. The European delegates continue to claim that abortion is an international right—even though such statements explicitly violate previous United Nations population agreements. Tweet This

This preliminary battle may have been won, but the war between the pro-abortion progressives within the United Nations and the Catholic Church continues to rage even beyond the U.N. population commission. A decade ago, the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child lobbied for the rights of children to enjoy access to unrestricted sexual behavior (including homosexual behavior) and severely criticized the Holy See for its attitudes toward homosexuality, contraception, and abortion, going so far as to say it should change its own canon law to ensure children’s rights and their access to health care (including abortion) are guaranteed.  

The attacks on the Holy See’s observer status at the U.N. by the progressives continue today because even though the Vatican does not have a vote on the important issues surrounding the dignity of the human person from conception until natural death, the Catholic response has been effective in helping to shape policy. But the position has also been tenuous. This is why the Trump administration’s courageous stance on life issues at the United Nations is most welcome. 

For almost three decades, Catholics for Choice has been lobbying the United Nations to have the Holy See removed from the U.N. General Assembly. Founded by Frances Kissling, an aspiring religious sister who left the convent before she professed final vows, Catholics for Choice has long challenged Catholic teaching on abortion and homosexuality at the United Nations. 

Kissling—who has retired from her leadership position at Catholics for Choice—continues today to attack the Vatican and its U.N. observer status. In a speech titled “The Long Shadow of the Church at Beijing: Feminists Reflect,” given during an event at the March 19, 2025, U.N. Women’s Conference and posted on the Women’s Ordination Conference website (Kissling remark at about the 57-minute mark), Kissling told those gathered that “the Vatican has about as much right in the UN as Disneyland.” Nostalgically recalling her “glory days” during the Beijing Conference back in 1995, Kissling recalled that she has never been afraid of the leadership of the Church, saying, “There is nothing they can do to me.” 

It is true that if Kissling does not believe in what the Church teaches about the sanctity of life or the sacredness of marriage, then she most likely does not believe in the salvific mission of the Church, so excommunication would mean nothing to her. In fact, in her speech, she complained that neither the monsignors nor the bishops had ever challenged her publicly. Instead, she had often been confronted by “some kid from some conservative Catholic College throughout the country” who had “accosted” her at the elevators after one of her talks to tell her she was wrong on abortion.

Today, with the Trump administration helping to shape policy on life issues at the United Nations, the pro-abortionist groups like Catholics for Choice are beginning to realize they have even less power, and so they have become even more strident. Beyond Kissling, Manuela Tironi, Senior Advisor at Catholics for Choice, openly attacked the Vatican in an address at the 69th U.N. Commission on the Status of Women on March 17, 2025, claiming that 

The Holy See does not speak for Catholics on gender equality and reproductive rights…The UN should not be granting this high level diplomatic status to a religious body that is interfering in the progress of already established goals and it certainly should not be granted solely to the Vatican…Catholics for Choice urges the members gathered here to discuss this threat to religious freedom and women’s rights worldwide.

The battles will continue. This week, the Trump administration has nominated Michael Waltz as Ambassador to the United Nations. A Christian with a strong military background, Waltz is the perfect choice to fight for the kinds of issues that are important to all faithful Catholics. As a U.S. Representative, he has consistently fought for legislation to protect the unborn.  

Most recently, on January 14, 2025, as a member of the House of Representatives, Waltz voted in favor of the Women and Girls in Sports Act, which aims to amend Title IX to ensure that sex is recognized solely based on reproductive biology and genetics at birth in the context of athletic programs. The bill prohibits federally-funded educational institutions from permitting males to participate in athletic programs designated for women or girls. 

Waltz’ experience on the battlefield and in the House prepares him for the battles he will face at the United Nations. Faithful Catholics helped to elect President Trump because he promised to help shape public policy that is informed by Catholic teaching on protecting life, on rejecting extreme gender ideology, and on the sacredness of the family. We need to acknowledge that in these first 100 days, the president has kept those promises.