Republicans Tell Marco Rubio Abortion Activist Michelle Bachelet Should Not Lead UN

A group of republican senators and representatives have drafted a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging the United States to veto the nomination of radical abortion activist Michelle Bachelet of Chile to be the next United Nations Secretary General.

Bachelet has a history of promoting abortion as a human right and overriding state sovereignty with intimidation and coercion to push the pro-abortion agenda. Even though Bachelet’s own government recently withdrew her nomination over her extreme positions, her candidacy continues to move forward with the support of a few other Latin American countries.

In addition to Senator Todd Young, U.S. Senators James Lankford (R-Okla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Jim Banks (R-Ind.), and Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), along with U.S. Representatives Christopher Smith (R-NJ-04), Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05), Sheri Biggs (R-SC-03), Warren Davidson (R-OH-08), Chuck Edwards (R-NC-11), Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI-05), Russ Fulcher (R-ID-01), Harriet Hageman (R-WY), Mike Haridopolos (R-FL-08), Andy Harris (R-MD-01), Diana Harshbarger (R-TN-01), Clay Higgins (R-LA-03), Brian Mast (R-FL-21), Mary Miller (R-IL-15), Andy Ogles (R-TN-05), Chip Roy (R-TX-21), John Rutherford (R-FL-05), Pete Sessions (R-TX-17), Keith Self (R-TX-03), Marlin Stutzman (R-IN-03), Glenn Thompson (R-PA-15), Daniel Webster (R-FL-11), and Joe Wilson (R-SC-02) also signed the letter.

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Full text of the letter can be found here and below:

Secretary Rubio,

With deep concern, we note the nomination of Dr. Michelle Bachelet to be the next United Nations Secretary General (UNSG).  In her previous roles with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), as Executive Director of UN Women, and as President of Chile, Dr.  Bachelet has repeatedly prioritized an extreme abortion agenda at the expense of state sovereignty.  She is an unsuitable candidate, and the United States, as a permanent member of the Security Council, should veto Dr. Bachelet’s selection.

Dr. Bachelet’s past performance does not match the qualifications that President Trump’s Administration has laid out for the next UNSG.  In October 2025, during remarks at a United Nations Security Council Briefing on the United Nations Organization, Ambassador Dorothy Shea said that “the United States looks forward to a Secretary-General who shares this vision of returning the UN to its founding purpose of maintaining international peace and security. The next Secretary General should reject initiatives that fall outside the Charter’s founding purpose, prioritize accountability and transparency, and respect state sovereignty.” However, Dr. Bachelet’s previous promotion of an extreme abortion agenda suggests that, if selected as the next UNSG, she would continue the UN practice of engaging in “the propagation of divisive ideologies that undermine national sovereignty and stir controversy rather than bring member states together to address issues of common concern.”  Her demonstrated ambitions and priorities, outlined below, conflict with the United States determination to bring the UN “back to the basics.”

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (2018-2022)

Statement Opposing the Supreme Court Dobbs Decision

Dr. Bachelet used her tenure at the Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to aggressively oppose the advancement of pro-life policy in the United States.  In June 2022, the United States Supreme Court ruled in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that the United States Constitution “does not confer a right to abortion” and returned the authority to regulate abortion “to the people and their elected representatives.”

Dr. Bachelet chose to respond with an official OHCHR statement calling the decision “a major setback,” a “huge blow to women’s human rights,” and a decision that “strips autonomy” from women.   She expressed her view that “abortion is firmly rooted in international human rights law and is at the core of women and girls’ autonomy.”

Having already set this precedent of using her office to attack United States pro-life law, as UNSG she clearly could not be trusted to respect the United States’ right to enforce pro-life laws and policies, include the Protecting Life in Foreign Assistance policy and the executive order Enforcing the Hyde Amendment (January 24, 2025).

Abortion Advocacy at OHCHR

Under Dr. Bachelet’s leadership, OHCHR pushed a radical abortion agenda in other ways.  For example, in a 2022 speech, Dr. Bachelet asserted, “[r]estrictive abortion laws and practical barriers pose a threat to human rights…”   She praised the weakening of pro-life laws in Colombia, Argentina, and Mexico.  The truth is that killing an unborn child by abortion can never be construed to be a human right. Every person—born and unborn—deserves to have his or her human rights secured and protected.

A 2020 OHCHR “factsheet” on abortion claims, “[t]reaty body jurisprudence has indicated that denying women access to abortion can amount to violations of the rights to health, privacy and, in certain cases, the right to be free from cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment.”  The “factsheet” claims that failure to provide abortion is “a form of gender based violence against women, which can amount to torture and/or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.”   These assertions are contrary to the Geneva Consensus Declaration, signed by the United States and more than 30 other nations, which affirms that there is no international right to abortion.

Failure to Oppose Coerced Abortion in China

In May 2022, Dr. Bachelet traveled to China at the invitation of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to investigate years of reports of severe human rights abuses in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

She should have honestly identified the atrocities committed by the CCP against the Uyghurs as a genocide.  Instead, she released a watered-down report literally minutes before her term expired.

She allowed the CCP to blatantly shield itself from an honest assessment and to sidestep responsibility for its horrific human rights abuses. In an appalling failure of leadership, Dr. Bachelet crumbled under pressure and enabled the CCP to manipulate the visit for its own advantage.

Executive Director of UN Women (2010-2013)

When UN Women was first established in 2010, Dr. Bachelet was appointed to be the first Executive Director.  Planned Parenthood Federation of America celebrated that Dr. Bachelet’s appointment to lead UN Women “sends a clear message to the global community.”

Dr. Bachelet used the UN Women platform to promote abortion. UN Women was defined as “dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women.”  During her tenure, Dr. Bachelet declared that “reproductive rights,” a euphemistic term that encompasses elective abortion, was “absolutely fundamental” to that mission. The first major UN Women Report gives a glimpse of UN Women’s abortion advocacy. It pushes for countries to weaken pro-life laws and highlights court decisions that have undermined pro-life protections.

Given this history of UN Women, we welcomed President Donald Trump’s January 7, 2026 announcement of the United States’ withdrawal from UN Women, among other international organizations, on the basis that “it is contrary to the interests of the United States to remain a member of, participate in, or otherwise provide support to [these] organizations.”  It is a matter of clear concern that Dr. Bachelet would bring her approach to the leadership of UN Women to the role of UNSG in a way that is likewise contrary to the interest of the United States.

President of Chile (2006-2010; 2014-2018)

During her bid for a second term as President of Chile, Dr. Bachelet campaigned on weakening Chile’s pro-life law protecting unborn life in all circumstances.  After her reelection, Dr. Bachelet authored and sent to Chile’s Congress a bill to legalize abortion in certain situations. It was approved by lawmakers and overcame a court challenge in August 2017. BBC Mundo described the bill as one of Dr. Bachelet’s “flagship initiatives” and called the bill’s enactment “an important political victory” for her.

Conclusion

Dr. Bachelet’s resume reveals a pro-abortion zealot intent on using political authority to override state sovereignty in favor of extreme agendas. She has both overtly attacked pro-life laws— including those of the United States—and sought to weaken them through intimidation and coercion. She has incorrectly claimed that abortion is a human right while failing to provide an honest assessment of the true human rights abuses committed by the CCP. She has demonstrated that she is not a candidate who will respect state sovereignty, refrain from divisive ideologies, or focus of issues of common concern to UN member states.

The United States should use its veto power to prevent Dr. Bachelet from being selected as UNSG to preserve the role for a more qualified candidate.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

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