U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday announced a series of measures designed to maintain access to abortion and urged women to vote in the November midterm elections as his administration seeks to limit consequences of the Supreme Court’s decision to revoke Roe vs. Wade.
Biden spoke from the White House about how he intends to ensure that Americans can still have abortions even after the country’s highest court overturned the decades-old precedent that guaranteed the right to abortion, paving the way for several states to ban or restrict the procedure.
He has not supported more drastic steps proposed by progressive activists, such as increasing the number of magistrates in the Supreme Court in an effort to rebalance him away from the Conservative majority.
The president said Friday that Roe’s fall “was not a constitutional trial. It was an exercise in crude political power.”
Biden added: “We cannot allow an out-of-control Supreme Court to work together with extremist elements of the Republican party to take away freedoms and our personal autonomy.”
Vice President Kamala Harris, who was present at the event, will meet later Friday with state legislative leaders advocating for the right to abortion in states where stricter restrictions are in place.
Biden has pledged to push for a national law that protects abortion rights, but it’s unclear if he has the votes in Congress to pass this bill.
On Friday, he urged Americans to vote in the November midterm elections, where Democrats are expected to suffer major defeats, to help increase the number of members in favor of the election of Congress in order to have the sufficient support to codify Roe in federal law.
“This is the fastest route available [to restore Roe]”The court now virtually challenges American women to go to the polls and restore the same rights they just withdrew.”
Passing a federal law would require circumventing Senate obstruction, which normally requires a supermajority of 60 votes to pass.
Biden, who in the past has been reluctant to revise Senate rules to pass legislation along party lines, said he would support the repeal of the filibuster in this case. Doing so would still require the votes of Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who have previously opposed any such attempt.
Friday’s order, which will have to be carried out largely by Xavier Becerra, health secretary, includes expanding access to abortion pills, the demand for which has increased since last month’s ruling. Some Republican states have limited their use by requiring the presence of a doctor when they are taken, which prohibits them from being prescribed for telehealth.
Biden also said his administration would convene panels of volunteer lawyers to help fight legal cases on behalf of people seeking reproductive health care. The administration has already threatened to sue any state that tries to block a woman from traveling across its borders to have an abortion.
It has called on the Federal Trade Commission to look for ways to protect the privacy of people investigating online abortion services, amid concerns that online data could be used against abortion applicants in any way. processing.
Many members of the Democratic party want Biden to be more combative. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer this week asked the administration for clarity on whether people in her state could bring abortion pills to the border from Canada.
Polls suggest the Supreme Court decision galvanized Democrats ahead of the November legislatures. “It is my hope and my firm belief that women will reach a record number to claim the rights the court has taken from them,” Biden said Friday.