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President Joe Biden plans to initiate a legal battle against the Supreme Court after it overturned Roe v. Wade which allowed abortion in the United States.
“If extremist governors try to block a woman from traveling from a state that prohibits her from seeking the medical help she needs to a state that provides that care, we will act to protect her bedrock rights,” Biden tweeted Thursday. “If states try to block a woman from getting medication the FDA has already approved and that has been available for more than twenty years, we will act to protect that woman’s right to that medication,” the president added later.
According to The Associated Press news agency, Biden is expected to instruct the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services to reject any state efforts to limit a woman’s ability to cross state lines to get an abortion or to obtain federally approved abortion drugs.
AP further explains that, in an executive order, Biden will also direct agencies that work with medical providers and insurers to be educated on how and when to share privileged patient information with law enforcement. Moreover, Biden will ask the Federal Trade Commission to take steps to protect the privacy of those seeking reproductive care information online.
Biden has emphasized that his ability to protect access to abortion in states where officials plan to restrict or ban it is limited, and has indicated that Congress would have the ability to intervene a bit more.
Last June 24, the Supreme Court decided to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, an action that leads at least 20 states across the country to ban or severely restrict access to abortion.
The recent court decision did not mean that abortion will be illegal nationwide, but rather that the decision on the legality of abortion would once again be in the hands of each state. While Democratic states such as California would keep their pro-abortion laws on the books, other states, such as Mississippi or Florida, would have new laws to regulate it at different stages of pregnancy.
Congress may be reluctant
The AP story coincides with one in The New York Times, which before the court ruling asserted that Biden would be evaluating a series of executive actions to help women in Republican-controlled states get abortions.
“Some of the ideas under consideration include declaring a national public health emergency, readying the Justice Department to fight any attempt by states to criminalize travel for the purpose of obtaining an abortion, and asserting that Food and Drug Administration regulations granting approval to abortion medications pre-empt any state bans,” officials told The New York Times.
However, an act of Congress would be needed to restore a national legal standard restricting states from banning abortion. Proponents, nonetheless, currently lack enough votes in the Senate, where Republicans can obstruct such a bill.
Sabrina Martín Rondon is a Venezuelan journalist. Her source is politics and economics. She is a specialist in corporate communications and is committed to the task of dismantling the supposed benefits of socialism // Sabrina Martín Rondon es periodista venezolana. Su fuente es la política y economía. Es especialista en comunicaciones corporativas y se ha comprometido con la tarea de desmontar las supuestas bondades del socialismo