(CNN) — President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Friday aimed at protecting abortion rights in response to the landmark Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade.
“This was not a decision driven by the Constitution, and despite what those justices said in the majority, this was not a decision driven by history,” the president said from the Roosevelt Room of the White House.
“The truth is that the majority of the Supreme Court today that is playing fast and loose with the facts even 150 years ago, the common law in many state laws did not criminalize abortion early in pregnancy, which is very similar to the feasibility line drawn by Roe, but the Dobbs majority ignores that fact,” said Biden, flanked by Vice President Kamala Harris and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, warning that the court’s majority decision “ignores that many laws were enacted to protect women at a time when they were dying from unsafe abortions.
Democrats and abortion rights advocates have pushed the White House to take a stronger stance on codifying abortion access. Last month, Biden hinted that he was considering taking an executive order, telling Jimmy Kimmel that while he believed Congress should codify Roe, “there are some executive orders you could use, we think. We’re looking at that right now.”
This Friday’s decree will make the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra, take measures to guarantee access to abortion, including medical abortion approved by the FDA and the expansion of access “to the full range of health services reproductive health,” according to an administration fact sheet shared with CNN. These services include “emergency contraception and long-acting reversible contraception, such as intrauterine devices (IUDs),” the fact sheet says, citing birth control coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is tasked with submitting a report within the next 30 days to the president on the implementation of the provisions of the order, which also includes measures to increase disclosure. and protect the medical and digital privacy of patients seeking abortions.
In addition, the executive order establishes an interagency working group between HHS and the White House Gender Policy Council, which includes Attorney General Merrick Garland, who the White House says will provide “technical assistance to states that offer legal protection to out-of-state patients, as well as to providers offering legal reproductive health care.”
DJ Judd contributed to this report