President Biden Signed An Executive Order Protecting Access To Abortion And Urged The Justice Department To "Protect Women From Intimidation"
The 1973 landmark decision on abortion, known as Roe v. Wade, was overturned just a few short weeks ago, and since then many politicians have been scrambling to find a way to help women have continued access to on-demand abortion.
Roe v. Wade granted federal constitutional protection to women to abort their baby, but the Supreme Court overturned the ruling in order to hand the decision back over to the states. Many states such as Texas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma are gearing up to pass strict abortion laws that will prohibit women from legally aborting their baby in the womb. President Biden has made it clear that his administration is going to support women's access to abortion.
President Biden Signed an Executive Order Protecting Access to Abortion
On Friday, President Biden signed an executive order to protect women's access to abortion. Although there's nothing that President Biden can do to restore the federal constitutional protection of abortion, his executive order aims to protect access to the abortion pill and emergency contraception.
"President Biden has made clear that the only way to secure a woman's right to choose is for Congress to restore the protections of Roe as federal law. Until then, he has committed to doing everything in his power to defend reproductive rights and protect access to safe and legal abortion," the White House said in a statement on Friday.
In the executive order, President Biden directs the Health and Human Services Secretary to submit a report to him within 30 days about the actions that his department is taking in regard to abortion. He also established an interagency task force on access to reproductive healthcare, such as contraception. Attorney General Merrick Garland is included in this task force. The order also states that this administration will increase public education efforts on abortion. It also provides protection for mobile clinics that provide abortion care for out-of-state patients.