US President Joe Biden on Friday announced a raft of measures designed to maintain access to abortion and urged women to vote in November’s midterm elections as his administration seeks to limit the fallout from the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Biden spoke from the White House about how he intends to ensure Americans can still get abortions even after the nation’s highest court overturned decades of precedent that guaranteed the right to abortion, paving the way for multiple states to ban or restrict procedure.
He did not support more drastic steps proposed by progressive activists, such as increasing the number of justices on the Supreme Court in an attempt to balance it away from the conservative majority.
On Friday, the president said Roe’s downfall “is not a constitutional sentence. It was an exercise in brute political power”.
Biden added: “We cannot allow an out-of-control Supreme Court, working in concert with extremist elements of the Republican Party, to take away our liberties and personal autonomy.”
Vice President Kamala Harris, who attended the event, will meet later Friday with state legislative leaders advocating for abortion rights in states where stricter restrictions are being set.
Biden has vowed to push for a national law protecting abortion rights, but it’s unclear whether he has the votes in Congress to pass such a bill.
On Friday, he urged Americans to vote in November’s midterm elections, where Democrats are expected to suffer significant defeats, to help increase the number of pro-choice members of Congress to have enough support to codify Roe into federal law.
“This is the fastest route available [to restore Roe]Biden said. “The court is now effectively forcing the women of America to go to the polls and reclaim the rights that were just taken away from them.”
Passage of a federal law would require the passage of Senate felonies, which normally require a 60-vote majority to pass.
Biden, who in the past has been reluctant to revise Senate rules to pass legislation along party lines, said he would support overturning the filibuster ruling in this case. It would still require the votes of Democratic senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kirsten Sinema of Arizona, who previously opposed such an attempt.
Friday’s order, which will largely be enforced by Xavier Becerra, the health minister, includes expanding access to abortion pills, demand for which has surged since last month’s decision. Some Republican states have restricted their use by requiring a doctor to be present when they are taken, which prohibits them from being prescribed via telehealth.
Biden also said his administration would convene groups of volunteer lawyers to help fight lawsuits on behalf of people seeking reproductive health. The administration has previously threatened to sue any country that tried to block a woman traveling through their borders to get an abortion.
He asked the Federal Trade Commission to look for ways to protect the privacy of people researching abortion services online, amid concerns that online data could be used against abortion seekers in any prosecution.
Many in the Democratic Party want Biden to be more combative. Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan, this week asked the administration for clarity on whether people in her state would be allowed to bring abortion pills across the border from Canada.
Polls show the Supreme Court ruling has boosted Democrats ahead of November’s midterm elections. “I hope and strongly believe that women will actually come forward in record numbers to reclaim the rights that have been taken away from them by the courts,” Biden said Friday.
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