stated that governments must not impose restrictions on abortion which subject women and girls to physical or mental pain or suffering, discriminate against them, arbitrarily interfere with their privacy, or place them at risk of undertaking unsafe abortions. The Committee stated that governments should not apply criminal sanctions to women and girls who undergo abortion or to medical service providers who assist them in doing so. Furthermore, the Committee stated that governments should remove existing barriers that deny effective access to safe and legal abortion, refrain from introducing new barriers to abortion, and prevent the stigmatization of those seeking abortion. (25) International human rights experts have condemned the Dobbs decision and regression on abortion rights in the United States more generally as a violation of human rights. Immediately upon release of the decision, then-UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet reiterated human rights protections for abortion and the impact that the decision will have on the fundamental rights of millions within the United States, particularly people with low incomes and people belonging to racial and ethnic minorities. UN independent human rights experts, including the UN Working Group on discrimination against women and girls, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health, and the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, similarly denounced the decision. At the conclusion of a human rights review of the United States in August 2022, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination noted deep concerns with the Dobbs decision and recommended that the United States address the disparate impact that it will have on racial and ethnic minorities, Indigenous women, and those with low incomes. (26) Abortion bans and restrictions affect the cost and availability of abortion services, and the settings in which abortion services are delivered. People travel across State lines and otherwise engage in interstate commerce