President Joe Bidensigned an executive order Friday to ensure access to abortion two weeks after the Supreme Court’s decision tooverturnRoe v. Wade.
The executive order vows to “ensure the safety of patients, providers, and third parties” who have abortions or provide abortion services.
Additionally, the order calls on the Department of Health and Human Services to submit a report in 30 days detailing steps to take that can protect medication abortion, expand access to emergency contraceptives, and increase education about reproductive healthcare services.
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“I’m asking the Justice Department that, much like they did in the Civil Rights era, to do everything in their power to protect these women seeking to invoke their rights,” Biden said Friday.
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Executive orders aresigned directives from the president, which don’t require Congressional approval, that manages operations of the federal government.
Biden has stated repeatedly that he doesn’t have the authority as president to restore the right to abortion himself.
“The only way we can secure a woman’s right to choose and the balance that existed is for Congress to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade as federal law,” he previously explained. “No executive action from the president can do that.”
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Shortly after the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Biden announced during a news conference that he believes in a woman’s right to make choices about her reproductive health.
Filibuster rules are the longstanding Senate practice of requiring a 60-vote minimum to pass legislation. Currently, the Senate does not have the 60 votes needed to codifyRoe v. Wade,TheNewYorkTimesreports.
Roe v. Wadeis a landmark Supreme Court decision of 1973 that granted women the right to an abortion in every state.
Last month’s6-to-3 rulingreversed nearly 50 years of precedent, giving states the power to pass their own laws around abortion. Since the decision, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi and South Dakota have alreadybanned abortion in their states, afterputting trigger laws in placethat governors enacted following the SCOTUS ruling.
source: people.com
