President Joe Biden stressed Wednesday that the struggle is not done as he signed a new executive order that will allow people to fly out of state for abortions.
Biden's executive order asks Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to investigate initiatives that would increase access for those seeking reproductive healthcare services, such as increasing Medicaid to pay travel expenses.
Biden Signs Abortion Order, Points to Kansas Vote
The executive order will not result in any immediate policy changes. Furthermore, it's unclear how the Hyde Amendment - a long-standing restriction on using government funding for abortion - may conflict with executive order activities. According to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, the steps proposed by HHS would not violate the Hyde Amendment.
Today’s Executive Order builds on the first Executive Order that I signed last month to safeguard access to health care – including abortion care – that was ripped away.
— President Biden (@POTUS) August 3, 2022
I told you I wouldn’t back down. That hasn’t changed. pic.twitter.com/IOZNjCFy7D
Today I'll sign a second Executive Order to address the reproductive health care crisis since Roe was overturned.
— President Biden (@POTUS) August 3, 2022
It will support women traveling for abortion care, ensure providers comply with the law when women require medical care, and advance maternal health research.
The action follows the Supreme Court's decision in June to overturn the historic 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which created a constitutionally protected right to abortion. During the signing ceremony on Wednesday, Biden praised Kansas voters for rejecting an amendment that would have allowed the Republican-controlled state Legislature to impose new limits or outright ban the practice.
He also applauded the Justice Department for challenging Idaho over its near-total abortion prohibition. Along with Becerra and Jennifer Klein, head of the White House Gender Policy Council, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris assembled the first interagency task force on reproductive healthcare access, according to USA Today.
The ruling comes just one day after Kansas voters delivered abortion rights activists a significant win by rejecting a bill that would have empowered the Republican-led legislature to impose further restrictions. Biden celebrated the vote in the White House.
Biden signed the executive order during the first meeting of the administration's newly formed Task Force on Reproductive Healthcare Access, which comprises officials from the federal government. Cabinet ministers informed the President on actions made by their various agencies to protect reproductive rights.
The directive directs HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra to investigate all relating steps to make sure health care providers comply with federal nondiscrimination statutes so that women receive medically necessary care as soon as possible. This includes actions to provide technical and legal assistance to health care providers in the aftermath of the Supreme Court's decision, as well as steps to provide technical and legal direction to health care providers, CNN reported.
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Biden Blasts GOP For Trying To Roll Back Abortion Rights
As he signed the executive order, Biden lashed out against "extreme" Republicans who "don't understand the power of women." The president chastised Republicans for attempting to use the verdict to restrict abortion rights throughout the country.
Republicans in Congress are willing to go much further in the MAGA mindset, Biden warned, discussing nationwide bans that would outlaw abortion in every state, in every case, as well as the larger right to privacy.
According to polls, the majority of Americans favor abortion rights, 61 percent of U.S. adults believe abortion should be allowed in all or most instances. Biden signed the directive, his second aimed at safeguarding abortion rights, from the White House residence, where he is still being treated for COVID-19.
He took part digitally in a meeting Vice President Kamala Harris held and signed the order from his private office on the White House's second floor. One of the orders Biden will make in his order on Wednesday would allow states that have not prohibited abortion to request particular Medicaid exemptions that will allow them to treat women who have traveled from out of state.
The directive will also instruct health-care providers to follow federal anti-discrimination standards and to make it easier for the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to collect crucial maternal health data and information. However, its impact on the wave of anti-abortion legislation being enacted in states is expected to be minor.
Biden is also urging Congress to enshrine a woman's right to abortion into federal law. His latest directive, however, falls short of what many Democratic legislators and abortion support groups have requested: that Biden proclaim an abortion public health emergency. According to White House officials, doing so will have minimal effect on freeing up government resources or activating new legal authority, as per Daily Mail.
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