- wording
- BBC News World
8 julio 2022
image source, Getty Images
US President Joe Biden signed an executive order this Friday to strengthen measures that protect access to abortion and contraceptives in the country, following the Supreme Court withdrew existing constitutional protections and granted states autonomy from the subject.
During the statements he gave from the White House, the president described the Court’s decision to annul the historic ruling that gave way to the constitutional protection of abortion, known as Roe vs. Wade, as “terrible, extreme and totally wrong”.
“Let me tell you something up front: This was not a decision driven by the Constitution,” the president said before announcing the measures, which include protectionones access to abortion medications.
Additionally, strengthen the protections a women crossing state lines to have the procedure, protects access to contraceptives, and takes steps to protect patient privacy.
The order requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra, submit a report on the process adoption of these measures within the next 30 days.
Roe vs Wade: un reto para Biden
From within the Democratic Party, Biden was pressured to take more decisive action following the Supreme Court’s decision to eliminate the constitutional protection of abortion with the repeal of Roe vs. Wade.
image source, Getty Images
Green has become the color that represents the fight for the decriminalization of abortion in the US and other countries.
This opened the way for each state to define whether it allows abortion, in addition to the regulations to regulate it.
The president used his remarks to tell Americans that the only way to “exercise and restore” women’s right to abortion is by “exercising the power of the vote.”
“Let me explain: We need two additional pro-abortion senators, plus a House [de Representantes] pro-abortion in order to codify Roe into law. His vote can make this a reality,” Biden said.
The presidential move comes two weeks following the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that guaranteed the constitutional right to abortion throughout the United States.
Since then, at least nine states have instituted almost absolute bans on abortion, with only the exception of danger to the life of the mother in some of them.
In contrast, other states are seeking to protect abortion access amid myriad legal challenges, while abortion clinics are trying to find ways to operate in this new legal context.
Biden also asked the attorney general and White House advisers to contact pro bono attorneys and public interest organizations to promote legal representation for women seeking, and medical facilities offering, abortions.
Pressure on Biden
Anthony Zurcher’s Analysisjournalist for the BBC in North America
Ever since the Supreme Court published its decision to strike down Roe vs. Wade, abortion-rights activists have been calling on the president to do more.
Many saw the US president’s initial reaction, an expression of sadness at the decision and a call to vote Democrat in the midterm elections, as simply inadequate.
Rumors that Biden was not up to the task, whether due to his advanced age or political disposition, grew to the point that the White House might no longer ignore them.
However, the power of the presidency on the abortion issue is particularly limited given the provisions established by Congress that prohibit the federal government from spending funds to support abortion: some of those provisions received the support of Biden at the time.
This leaves the president in a bind.
Polls indicate that the majority of the public overwhelmingly supports the legality of abortion, even in states that have bans planned for the future.
But any comprehensive measure the president seeks to support will face legal challenges, and the public’s support for the presidential actions may wane if it sees the White House overstepping its powers.
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