“I ask the Justice Department, just as they did in the civil rights era, to do something, to do everything in their power to protect these women who are claiming their rights,” Biden said in a statement. the White House, alongside Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra.
The president on Friday derided the Supreme Court decision as “extreme” and “totally wrong,” saying, “What we’re seeing wasn’t a constitutional verdict, it was an exercise in raw political power.”
The president said the fastest way to restore abortion rights is for the American people to elect more members of Congress in the November midterm elections who will support federal legislation protecting access to abortion.
Biden said it was his “hope and strong belief that women will, in fact, appear in record numbers to reclaim the rights taken from them by the court”.
“Let me be clear, although I wish it hadn’t come to this, this is the fastest route available,” Biden said.
The president cannot take action to restore the nationwide right to abortion after the Supreme Court ruling. Biden has publicly acknowledged that his options to expand access to abortion remain limited.
HHS is tasked with submitting a report to the President within the next 30 days regarding the implementation of the warrant’s provisions, which also include steps to increase its reach and protect the medical and digital privacy of patients who want to have an abortion.
In addition, the order establishes an interagency task force between HHS and the White House Gender Policy Council, including Attorney General Merrick Garland, which the White House says will “provide technical assistance to states that provide legal protections to out-of-state patients.” “. as well as providers who provide legal reproductive health care.”
The White House has rejected several progressive ideas to protect access to abortion, including allowing abortion providers to operate from federal property in states where the procedure is banned.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said using federal land for abortion services would have “dangerous consequences.” The White House has also reiterated that the president does not support the expansion of the Supreme Court, as many progressives have urged.
But Biden recently said he would support making an exception to the filibuster — the 60-vote threshold in the Senate required to pass most legislation — to codify abortion rights and the right to privacy through legislation. legislation passed by Congress. The president has previously been reluctant to support changing the Senate rules to pass his agenda.
This story has been updated with additional information.