President Biden Signs Executive Order To Protect Reproductive Rights In Wake Of Roe v. Wade Shutdown

President Biden Signs Executive Order To Protect Reproductive Rights In Wake Of Roe v. Wade Shutdown

President Joe Biden wants to protect at least some of women’s rights.

Two weeks after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, President Joe Biden signed an executive order to maintain access to reproductive health services.

While President Joe Biden is powerless to restore the right to an abortion on a national level, the executive order makes an effort to, among other things, protect access to emergency contraception and medication abortion and strengthen the security and legal options available to those seeking and providing abortion services.

In a statement, the White House said the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade

“expressly took away a right from the American people that it had recognized for nearly 50 years – a woman’s right to make her own reproductive health care decisions, free from government interference. Fundamental rights – to privacy, autonomy, freedom, and equality – have been denied to millions of women across the country, with grave implications for their health, lives, and wellbeing. This ruling will disproportionately affect women of color, low-income women, and rural women.”

The president emphasized that political reform is necessary in order to reestablish the rights that were lost when Roe v. Wade was overturned, calling on the Justice Department to do everything they can protect the rights of women.

According to the White House,

“President Biden has made clear that the only way to secure a woman’s right to choose is for Congress to restore the protections of Roe as federal law. Until then, he has committed to doing everything in his power to defend reproductive rights and protect access to safe and legal abortion.”

The president himself also encouraged women to get out and vote in an effort to keep things like this from happening. Regarding the upcoming midterm elections in November, he shared that in order to codify Roe v. Wade as federal law, the United States needs two additional pro-choice senators and a pro-choice House.

President Biden said,

“I don’t think the court, or for that matter, the Republicans who for decades have pushed the extreme agenda, have a clue about the power of American women. But they’re about to find out. … I don’t think the court, or for that matter, the Republicans who for decades have pushed the extreme agenda, have a clue about the power of American women,” Biden said. “But they’re about to find out.” 

The federal government’s operations are managed through executive orders, which are written orders from the president that don’t need congressional approval. Despite the fact that Congress cannot enact legislation to reverse an executive order, it can approve legislation that makes it more challenging or even impossible to carry it out.

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[VIA 1, 2]