Topline
President Joe Biden will sign an executive order Friday that takes steps to safeguard abortion access in the light of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, the White House announced, following heavy criticism from the left for not doing more as states ban abortion nationwide.
President Joe Biden speaks to supporters at Max S. Hayes High School on July 6 in Cleveland, Ohio.
Key Facts
Biden’s executive order will direct the White House to convene pro bono lawyers and other legal and advocacy groups to defend abortion patients and providers, including protecting people’s rights to travel to other states to get an abortion.
It also builds off of previous commitments made by Health Secretary Xavier Becerra directing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to protect medication abortion access—as abortion pills have federal approval, though so far they’re still outlawed in states with total abortion bans—as well as expand access to contraception and other reproductive health services.
HHS will also work to ensure that pregnant people have access to emergency medical care, in response to fears that abortion bans will result in people with emergency pregnancy complications not receiving proper treatment.
Biden has asked the Federal Trade Commission to take additional steps to protect patient privacy if they seek an abortion, and the administration will also help to ensure health data stays private under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) by issuing additional guidance.
The White House will take additional steps to protect the security of abortion clinics and patient and providers’ safety.
HHS and the White House Gender Policy Council will establish a Task Force on Reproductive Health Care Access to coordinate the federal response, and the attorney general will also provide “technical assistance” to states and providers that still offer abortion access, particularly to people from out of state whose abortions could be legally challenged.
Contra
The president’s executive order did not address other requests that Democratic officials and progressives have asked from the federal government, including allowing abortions on federal land in states where the procedure is banned. The White House had already shot down that request before Biden’s executive order was announced, saying it feared people would still face legal prosecution for getting or providing an abortion as soon as they stepped off federal property. The president has also resisted calls to expand the Supreme Court or impose significant reforms in response to the 6-3 conservative court overturning Roe v. Wade. Bloomberg reported Friday the White House had also considered declaring a public health emergency to address the ruling, as some Democrats have pushed, but ultimately decided against it over “concerns the impact wouldn’t justify an inevitable legal battle.”
Key Background
The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24, setting off a wave of statewide abortion bans. Despite the court’s opinion having been leaked weeks earlier, the White House largely responded to the monumental decision with calls for Americans to vote, setting off a wave of criticism among abortion rights advocates that the Biden administration wasn’t doing more and hadn’t been prepared to respond to the ruling. The Supreme Court’s decision put abortion rights in the hands of the states, leaving little room for the White House to fully protect access, but Democratic lawmakers and others on the left had called for the administration to take “bold action” and fully exercise the jurisdiction that it has. In addition to Friday’s executive order, Becerra had already announced some actions through HHS and the Biden administration had launched a website with more information about reproductive rights, along with agency actions to protect abortion access for members of the military. Biden has also called for the Senate to abolish the filibuster in order to enact a law protecting abortion rights, but that remains a longshot given moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) remain opposed to getting rid of the 60-vote threshold.
Further Reading
FACT SHEET: President Biden to Sign Executive Order Protecting Access to Reproductive Health Care Services (White House)
Biden: Senate Should Break Filibuster To Codify Abortion Rights Into Law (Forbes)
Frustration, anger rising among Democrats over caution on abortion (Washington Post)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2022/07/08/heres-what-biden-doing-to-protect-abortion-access-roe-v-wade-overturned/