Abortion and gender critic named top HHS health diplomat
The Department of Health and Human Services has appointed conservative activist Bethany Kozma to lead its Office of Global Affairs, the agency’s top global health diplomacy role, giving her significant influence over how the U.S. shapes health policy abroad after Trump-era foreign aid cuts and withdrawal from the World Health Organization. Kozma, who has publicly equated abortion with 'murder' and called gender‑affirming care 'evil,' lacks a visible background in global health but previously served in the Trump administration at USAID and helped craft Project 2025 guidance to strip 'climate change' language from policy documents. HHS, in a statement, framed OGA under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as advancing the Trump administration’s agenda and 'gold‑standard science' with global partners while declining to address specific concerns about Kozma’s views.
📌 Key Facts
- Bethany Kozma was named this week as director of HHS’s Office of Global Affairs, often described as the department’s 'diplomatic voice' on global health.
- Kozma has a record of describing abortion as 'murder,' opposing gender‑affirming care, and arguing that the concept of gender fluidity is 'evil.'
- She previously served at USAID as senior adviser for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment and deputy chief of staff, and later appeared in Heritage Foundation Project 2025 training videos calling for removal of 'climate change' references from government documents.
- An HHS statement said OGA under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will advance the Trump administration’s agenda and 'gold‑standard science' but did not answer NPR’s questions about Kozma’s qualifications or global health experience.
📊 Relevant Data
In the US, 0.8% of adults (over 2.1 million people) identify as transgender, while 3.3% of youth aged 13 to 17 (about 724,000) identify as transgender, indicating a higher identification rate among younger demographics.
How Many Adults and Youth Identify as Transgender in the United States? — Williams Institute
Transgender identification among US young adults aged 18-22 dropped from over 8% in 2020 to 3.2% in recent data, showing a sharp decline.
The Sharp Decline in Transgender Identification Among Young Adults — Graphs About Religion
In 2022, gender-affirming surgeries were performed on approximately 4,552 patients in the US, with a significant increase from 2016 to 2020, but such surgeries are rarely performed on transgender youth under 18.
National Estimates of Gender-Affirming Surgery in the US — JAMA Network Open
Access to gender-affirming care is associated with reduced rates of depression and anxiety among transgender and nonbinary youth over a one-year period.
Mental Health Outcomes in Transgender and Nonbinary Youths Receiving Gender-Affirming Care — JAMA Network Open
In 2022, the US abortion rate was 14.4 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15-44, with Black women accounting for 42.9% of abortions despite comprising about 13.6% of the female population aged 15-44.
U.S. abortion statistics — Hey Jane
From June 2021 to July 2022, the distribution of abortions in the US by race/ethnicity was 30% White, 39% Black, 21% Hispanic, and 10% other, showing overrepresentation among Black and Hispanic women relative to their population shares (White 59%, Black 13%, Hispanic 19% of US population).
Percentage of women who received an abortion by race/ethnicity U.S. 2021-2022 — Statista
The US Global Gag Rule restricts foreign NGOs receiving US aid from providing or promoting abortion services, impacting global reproductive health access and leading to reduced family planning services in affected countries.
Explained: What is the US Global Gag Rule? — MSI Reproductive Choices
US policies like the Global Gag Rule have led to closures of health clinics in developing countries, increasing unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions by limiting access to contraception and safe abortion information.
Attacks on reproductive health will have devastating consequences worldwide — Doctors Without Borders