Biden signs executive orders to safeguard abortion as frustration mounts

Washington: US President Joe Biden has acted to protect women’s access to some abortion and reproductive services, calling the Supreme Court’s overturning of the constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy an “extreme” political decision.

Biden used his presidential powers to try to mitigate the devastating consequences of the overruling of Roe v Wade, signing an executive order to instruct the Department of Justice and Department of Health and Human Services to ensure women’s access to care where possible, including expanding availability of abortion pills, contraception and family planning services.

Under the order, the federal government will also convene pro bono lawyers and public interest organisations to legally represent patients who want to travel across state lines to procure an abortion, as well as the health providers who continue to offer the procedure.

President Joe Biden signs an executive order on abortion access at the White House.Credit: AP

His government is also trying to protect the privacy of patients seeking information about abortion services amid fears that they could be tracked online and penalised by states where abortions are now banned. Part of this involves empowering the Federal Trade Commission to ensure private health information is not sold to data brokers or other third parties.

The executive order will also increase outreach and public education campaigns to help Americans receive reliable and accurate information about their rights.

Speaking at the White House alongside Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday morning (AEST), Biden described the court’s decision as “terrible”, “extreme” and “totally wrong”.

“What we’re witnessing wasn’t a constitutional judgment – it was an exercise in raw political power,” he said. “A number of these states have laws that are so extreme they’ve raised the threat of criminal penalties for doctors and healthcare providers. They’re so extreme that many don’t allow for exceptions for rape or incest.

“This isn’t some imagined horror, it’s already happening. Just last week it was reported that a 10-year-old girl was a rape victim in Ohio. Ten years old! And she was forced to have to travel out of state to Indiana to seek to terminate the pregnancy and maybe save her life ... Does anyone believe that a 10-year-old girl should be forced to give birth to a rapists’ child?”

Biden’s intervention comes after days of growing frustration among Democrats and pro-choice advocates that the White House has not done enough to mitigate the consequences of the court’s ruling, despite knowing as early as May - when a draft was leaked to Politico - that Roe v Wade was likely to be overturned.

The US Supreme Court’s decision on abortion has had ramifications across the world, including Melbourne where thousands marched in solidarity last week.Credit: Chris Hopkins

Until now, much of Biden’s response has centred on urging Congress to codify abortion rights, even if it means tweaking the Senate’s so-called filibuster rules, although the Democrats do not have the numbers to do this.

He has also urged voters to turn out in force for the midterm elections in November to elect more pro-choice politicians and expand the Democrats’ wafer-thin majority in Congress, which could enable abortion rights to be written into law.

But progressive Democrats, advocates and state governors have been urging Biden to do more, such as use federal land to set up abortion clinics, or declare a public health emergency to protect women in need of care. So far, the White House has been reluctant to do so, arguing such moves could raise too many legal complications or be challenged in court by opposing states.

Frustrations are set to spill over in Washington on Saturday (US time) when pro-choice advocates march to the White House to demand that the administration do more. Similar rallies will be taking place over the weekend across the US, including in states such as Texas, Colorado, New York and Ohio.

“We delivered their seats, we delivered a Democratic congress, we delivered a Democratic presidency,” Women’s March managing director Tamika Middleton said earlier this week. “So we are telling them in no uncertain terms that we expect them to do what we elected them to do.”

Biden nonetheless repeated his call to voters again today, saying: “I don’t think the court, or for that matter, Republicans who for decades have pushed this extreme agenda have a clue about the power of American women, but they’re about to find out in my view.

“It’s my hope and strong belief that women will in fact turnout in record numbers to reclaim the rights of taken from them by the court.”

The 1973 landmark ruling Roe v Wade enshrined a women’s choice to have abortion as a constitutional right, but its demise has allowed anti-abortion states such as Oklahoma, Alabama, and South Dakota to initiate “trigger laws” that will ban terminations in almost every circumstance.

Mississippi this week became the latest state to invoke its trigger laws on Thursday, forcing the closure of the abortion clinic at the centre of the Supreme Court’s decision: the Jackson Women’s Health Organisation.

The clinic, known locally as the Pink House, was the only abortion clinic in Mississippi, America’s poorest state, and its closure means that women who need healthcare will now have to travel thousands of kilometres to find a state where abortion remains legal. Some will not have the means to do so, potentially resulting in unsafe attempts to terminate, or unwanted pregnancies.

Biden said the court’s decision would also have further implications beyond healthcare access, potentially eroding “the right to privacy generally, marriage equality, and contraception”

“So much more is at risk,” he said. “We cannot allow an out of control Supreme Court working in conjunction with extremist elements of the Republican Party to take away freedoms and our personal autonomy.”

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