Destro’s Nomination As The State Department’s Assistant Secretary For The Bureau Of Labor (DRL) Caused Alarm In Many Human Rights And Civil Society Organizations
Destro Was Identified As Dangerous To Human Rights By Leading Reproductive Health Groups
Destro Has A Very Extensive History Of Opposing Reproductive Freedom For All. “Destro’s history of extreme opposition to sexual and reproductive health and rights indicate that he would bolster the administration’s regressive agenda and rather than hold it accountable to the Declaration and other international human rights commitments. IWHC joins with 46 organizations to urge the Senate to reject Destro’s nomination.” [International Women’s Health Coalition, 3/28/19]
His Record of Hostility Toward Reproductive Health Equity Sparked Concern During His Nomination Process
Destro Has Supported Many Policies That Harm Anyone Who Does Not Identify As A Straight, Cisgender Man. “Prof. Destro’s record evinces a strong hostility to the health and human rights of women, girls, and LGBTI individuals. We do not believe that a nominee with this record should be confirmed to lead the State Department’s Bureau dedicated to protecting, defending, and promoting the human rights of all persons around the world, especially members of vulnerable communities like women, girls, and LGBTI persons. We strongly urge you to oppose his confirmation based [on] the clear conflict between his record and the Bureau’s mission.” [Center for Reproductive Rights, 3/22/2019]
He Is A Member Of The Conservative Extremist Cohort Appointed By Trump
Destro Is In The Company Of Other Anti-Abortion Extremists Like Andrew Bremberg, U.S. Ambassador To The UN. “Trump named a similarly oriented conservative, Robert Destro, to be assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights, and labor. His nomination, still pending, was first sent to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee one year ago.” [PassBlue, 6/26/2019]
This Is Not The First Time Destro Has Been Given A Federal Platform For His Warped Views On Human Rights
He Was Identified As An Abortion Opponent When Nominated To The Civil Rights Commission By Reagan
Similar To His Most Recent Nomination, Destro Was Part Of A Group Of Conservative Extremists Joining The Reagan Administration. “In particular, the President’s nomination of Robert A. Destro, former director of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights in Milwaukee, for a seat on the commission has brought complaints from organizations that favor freedom of choice on abortions.” [New York Times, 7/11/82]
Destro Was A Key Leader Of Opposition to Marriage Equality
He Had Close Ties With The Marriage Law Foundation
Destro Served As A Charter Board Member for An Organization Providing Legal Advice To Opponents Of Marriage Equality. “Funded with private donations [Monte] Stewart refused to discuss in detail Thursday, the Utah foundation is closely tied to Washington-based Catholic University's Marriage Law Project. The foundation board includes Robert Destro, a Catholic University law professor. Margaret Nell, director of the university's marriage project, will be the Utah foundation's secretary. And Sutherland Institute attorney William Duncan, onetime acting director of the Marriage Project, will join Stewart as a full-time foundation attorney.” [The Salt Lake Tribune, 11/19/04]
Destro Claimed That Federal Judges Who Granted Marriage Equality Were Activists
Destro Accused Judges Of Being “Activists” In Marriage Equality Decisions. “‘Until the federal courts got involved, 37 states refused to recognize same-sex ‘marriage’,’ Destro said. Destro added, ‘By striking down the Defense of Marriage Act on federalism grounds, the court left open the issue of whether denial of a marriage license to a same-sex couple is a violation of equal protection, but its reasoning in that case was taken by activist local federal judges as a clear signal to force the states to legalize those relationships.’” [National Catholic Register, 2/18/15]
Destro Used His Position As An Academic To Contribute To Anti-Abortion and Anti-LGBTQ Rhetoric
Destro Argued Against Abortion Access Being Protected As A Right To Privacy. “Even if it be assumed that the foregoing bases for the decision in Roe are valid, the privacy rationale as applied to strike down state regulations governing the time, place, and manner of the abortion procedure still suffers from a serious practical defect. Legal abortion, as a medical procedure, is not a private matter. Although the personal decision to undergo the procedure, as well as the medical record of its performance, may be confidential, the actual procedure, performed by a state-certified medical practitioner in a regulated health facility, can hardly be considered a private occurrence. It is almost ludicrous to compare the sterile anonymity of the operating theatre or clinical facility to the privacy of the marital bedroom upheld in Griswold v. Connecticut, especially when the procedures involved in the clinical setting involve not only a high degree of technical expertise and danger to physical health, but also the economic incentives and considerations attendant upon the operation of any public service facility.” [California Law Review, 9/1/75]
Destro Argued For Personhood Rights Of The Fetus. “To sustain the structure of the abortion cases it was essential for the Court to hold that the unborn are not persons entitled to the protection of the fourteenth amendment. From a perspective in which abortion constitutes the taking of a human person’s life, the privacy argument would have had to yield, for one person’s interest in privacy does not outright another’s interest in remaining alive.” [California Law Review, 9/1/75]
Destro Equated The Necessity Of Rights For Fetuses To Rights Established For “Both Women And… Racial Minorities.” “Although there remains much to be done, both women and members of racial minorities have come to be recognized by law as individuals whose interests require full and equal protection. The transition has not been a simple one, and in order to achieve it each group had its champions, often not even members of the disadvantaged class, to mobilize the public support, and internal class consciousness without change would have been impossible. It is this consciousness of purpose, no different in essence than that which inspired the fourteenth amendment and the proposed Equal Rights amendment, which has given impetus to the movement for a Life-Protective amendment.” [California Law Review, 9/1/75]
Destro Does Not Believe People Opposed To Marriage Equality Should Be Called Bigots. “This is indeed activism, and it is justified on the grounds that anyone who disagrees with the new wisdom about same-sex relationship is a bigot.” [National Catholic Register, 2/18/15]
Destro Believes That Religion Is An Appropriate Filter For Interpreting Law And Has Used It To Validate Withholding Marriage Equality. “But a coalition of Colorado religious leaders has come out against Amendment 43, citing Scripture and Judeo-Christian values to support their position as well. One expert notes that religious influence in crafting laws comes with the territory. ‘All law has a moral core,’ says Robert Destro, a law professor at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. ‘It always embodies somebody’s view of right or wrong. It doesn’t matter where anybody gets their views, you just want to understand them and decide if they’re consistent with views of the common good.’” [The Denver Post, 10/22/06]
