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President Biden plans to describe additional steps aimed at strengthening abortion rights on Friday morning, two weeks after the Supreme Court overturned Roe against Wadeas many Democrats have asked him to respond with bolder and more urgent action.
Biden, along with Vice President Harris, plans to deliver a speech from the Roosevelt Room of the White House on his efforts to protect access to reproductive health services.
He also plans to sign an executive order that, according to a statement released Thursday afternoon by the White House, will seek to safeguard access to medications for abortion and emergency contraception, protect patient privacy and strengthen options legal requirements for those requesting access to these services.
The order orders the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra, to submit a report within 30 days that would address many of these issues. Becerra is also tasked with finding ways to increase public outreach so that people seeking reproductive health care services, including abortion, know how to access it.
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At a glance at some of the legal battles that could come, Biden is also ordering the attorney general and White House counsel to convene pro bono private attorneys, bar associations and public interest organizations to encourage legal representation for those seeking or offering reproductive health. services.
“This representation could include the protection of the right to travel outside the state to seek medical attention,” according to the White House statement.
Legal assistance has been one of the main concerns of some abortion rights advocates. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-Mich.) On Thursday urged the Biden administration to “take all the stops,” pointing out legal hurdles that could prevent Michigan residents from seeking services in Canada or returning drugs from the United States. across the border.
“At this dangerous and precarious time for women’s fundamental rights, we need to be creative and take bold action,” Whitmer said in a statement accompanying a letter she sent to Biden administration officials. “We have to lead.”
Another area that Biden’s executive order is trying to address is patient privacy. Biden calls on the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission to consider taking steps to protect consumer privacy when seeking information on reproductive health services. HHS will also consider additional actions to prevent patient information from being disclosed.
Biden is also establishing an interagency working group on access to reproductive health care, which will coordinate the entire government on other potential policies.
Biden’s actions come two weeks after the Supreme Court changed five decades of federal rights to abortion and has faced growing criticism for not having a more urgent response.
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White House officials have defended their moves, pointing out an initial speech he delivered after the decision and saying they were doing everything they could legally.
But he has been accused of not taking the time to galvanize Democrats and of not speaking regularly and forcefully. Some also say the White House seemed emaciated despite having plenty of time to form a plan after a draft Supreme Court decision was leaked nearly two months earlier.
Last week, Biden called for the obstruction to be revoked to help codify abortion rights, but so far he has resisted other efforts that Democrats have pushed him to adopt.
Deputy Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (DN.Y.) has pressured Biden to expand the Supreme Court, for example, but has reaffirmed that she will not consider such a measure. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) Has been one of the people asked to open federal lands in abortion clinics, a tactic the White House has rejected, saying it could jeopardize the safety of women traveling to clinics.