President Joe Biden signed an executive order today in an attempt to protect access to reproductive health care services.
The executive order outlines actions intended to lessen potential penalties that those seeking an abortion could face after the ruling, as well as protect access to abortion medication by mail.
This comes two weeks after the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and the federal constitutional right to abortion and two days after North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper signed an executive order to protect reproductive freedom and abortion access in the state.
The order said that the Supreme Court ruling already has and will continue to have detrimental implications for women’s health and public health.
“In the face of this health crisis, the Federal Government is taking action to protect healthcare service delivery and promote access to critical reproductive healthcare services, including abortion,” the order said. “It remains the policy of my Administration to support women’s right to choose and to protect and defend reproductive rights. Doing so is essential to justice, equality, and our health, safety, and progress as a Nation.”
Despite the order, Biden’s executive powers are constrained, as individual states can still make laws restricting access to abortion and emergency contraceptives. Legislation legalizing abortion at a federal level must originate in the U.S. Congress.