President Joe Biden is exercising his power to ensure that patients have access to abortions amid the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
CNN reports that Biden implemented an executive order to help women travel out of state to receive abortions and safely have access to the care that they need.
He acknowledged the amount of “chaos and uncertainty” that has ensued in the wake of the controversial decision, noting that “women’s health and lives are on the line.”
“Emergency medical care being denied to women experiencing miscarriages, doctors uncertain about what they can do to provide for their patients, pharmacists unsure whether they can fill prescriptions that they’ve always filled before, a tragic case of rape survivors, including a 10-year-old girl forced to travel to another state for care,” said Biden just shy of signing the order.
As previously reported by REVOLT, the state of Louisiana officially placed its abortion ban back in place. On Monday (Aug. 1), clinic workers called hundreds of patients to cancel upcoming appointments for the procedure.
Biden’s decision to sign the order also follows a major victory in Kansas, where an abortion vote allowed the state to protect rights to the medical operation by way of the state’s constitution.
“In a decisive victory, voters made it clear that politicians should not interfere with the fundamental rights of women. And the voters of Kansas sent a powerful signal that this fall the American people will vote to preserve and protect the right and refuse to let them be ripped away by politicians,” said Biden following the state’s voter turnout. “And my administration has their back.”
The executive order was signed Wednesday (Aug. 3) during the first meeting for the newly established Task Force on Reproductive Healthcare Access.
Per the order, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra has to consider “all appropriate actions to ensure health care providers comply with federal non-discrimination laws so that women receive medically necessary care without delay.”