Friday’s executive order followed other policies in support of abortion rights the Biden administration has publicized since the high court’s June 24 decision. On the same day, the president announced his administration would protect interstate travel for abortions and access to medical/chemical abortions. Days later, the administration also established a new website that helps women find an abortion provider and obtain funds to pay for such a procedure.
Some Democrats in Congress, however, have criticized the Biden administration’s response to the court ruling as weak. Among their proposals have been calls for a declaration by Biden of a “public health emergency” and the opening of abortion clinics on federal lands in conservative states. The administration has declined to take those steps.
Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer wrote the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Thursday (July 7) to ask for clarification of the rights of Michigan residents to travel into Canada for abortions and to return across the border with abortion pills. In a written statement, she urged the federal government “to pull out all the stops to ensure that Michiganders can access care in Canada if they need to.”
Abortion rights advocates, meanwhile, applauded Biden’s executive order. Mini Timmaraju, president of NARAL Pro-choice America, said her organization is “encouraged by the Biden-Harris administration’s work to defend abortion rights and access, and look forward to continuing” the partnership in behalf of “reproductive freedom.”
Denise Harle, director of Alliance Defending Freedom’s Center for Life, said, however, Biden’s executive order spreads “harmful misinformation” and focuses on protecting abortion clinics instead of investigating and prosecuting perpetrators who recently have committed violence and vandalism against pregnancy resource centers.
The order “is a monumental misuse of resources that could instead be channeled toward actually helping pregnant mothers who need support so that they don’t feel like abortion is their only choice,” Harle said in a written release.
Among the provisions in his executive order, Biden directed:
- HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra to report within 30 days on possible steps to “protect and expand access” to medical/chemical abortion and other abortion services.
- Attorney General Merrick Garland and the president’s counsel to bring together “private pro bono” lawyers, bar associations and other organizations to urge lawyers to represent women and abortion providers.
- The establishment of an interagency task force that would include Garland to coordinate efforts to protect access to abortion and reproductive services.
- Garland and DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to consider actions to protect the safety of women and abortion providers, as well as the security of abortion clinics and entities that dispense abortion drugs.
- Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan to weigh options to protect the privacy of those who seek information on abortion and reproductive services.
This article originally appeared at Baptist Press.
