US President Joe Biden said Sunday that he has asked his administration to consider whether he has the authority to declare an abortion-related public health emergency, after the Supreme Court overturned the ruling in Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion nationwide.
This came after Biden on Friday signed an executive order to facilitate access to services to terminate pregnancy.
Biden was on his way for a bike ride near his Delaware residence when he stopped to speak to reporters, who asked him if he was considering declaring a public health emergency related to access to abortion services. The president replied that he had asked his staff to consider “whether he had this authority” and what the implications would be.
The US president, who belongs to the Democratic Party, is under pressure from his party to take action after the historic ruling issued by the Supreme Court last month, which overturned the ruling in the case (Roe v. Wade) that protected the right to reproductive freedom for women for 50 years.
Biden told reporters that his goal is to legalize abortion rights through legislation. He sent a message to the anti-abortion rights protesters rallied outside the White House.
“Keep protesting. Keep making your point. It’s very important… We can do a lot of things to understand women’s rights,” he said.
On Friday, Jane Klein, director of the White House Gender Policy Council, said it “doesn’t seem like a great option.” “When we looked at the public health emergency, we learned two things: One is that it doesn’t provide a lot of resources. It’s what’s in the public health emergency fund, and there’s very little money – tens of thousands of dollars in it. So it doesn’t seem like a great option,” she told reporters. It also doesn’t give off a great deal of legal power. That’s why we haven’t taken that action yet.”