Yesterday (July 8, 2022,) President Joe Biden, accompanied by Vice President Kamala Harris and Health, Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, signed an Executive Order designed to:
- Safeguarding access to reproductive health care services, including abortion, emergency care during miscarriages, and contraception.
- Protecting the privacy of patients and their access to accurate information.
- Promoting the safety and security of patients, providers, and clinics.
- Coordinating the implementation of Federal efforts to protect reproductive rights and access to health care including drugs that have been FDA approved for over 20 years.
In remarks similar to his first comments shortly after the Conservative majority on the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, President Biden called the court ruling “terrible, extreme, and so totally wrong headed decision…”
Later, he said “this was not a decision driven by the Constitution…this was not a decision driven by history…today’s Supreme Court majority is playing fast and loose with the facts…the practice of medicine should not be frozen in the nineteenth century…This wasn’t about the Constitution or the law. It was about a deep seething antipathy towards Roe and the broader right to privacy. As the justices wrote in their dissent, and I quote, “The majority has overruled Roe and Casey for one and only one reason: because it has always despised them, and now it has the votes to discard them….So, what we’re witnessing wasn’t a constitutional judgment. It was an exercise in raw political power. “
The President then repeated his call for voters to turn out on November 8, 2022 and elect candidates that will codify Roe v Wade at the federal level. Mr. Biden said this was the quickest way to stop extremists at the state and local level from permanently imposing the most restrictive anti-abortion measures including those that deny exceptions for rape, incest, or even instances during a complicated miscarriage where the woman’s life may be in danger.
It is also the way to stop Republican majorities from passing a nationwide ban on abortions.
On the exception of rape and incest, Mr. Biden brought up the horrible incident a ten year old girl had to go through in Ohio. A rape victim, she had to go to Indiana to get an abortion because no one in Ohio was legally allowed to help her.
On this, the President said:
“…Just last week, it was reported that a 10-year-old girl was a rape victim in Ohio — 10 years old — and she was forced to have to travel out of the state, to Indiana, to seek to terminate the pregnancy and maybe save her life. That’s — the last part is my judgment. Ten years old. Ten years old. Raped, six weeks pregnant. Already traumatized. Was forced to travel to another state. Imagine being that little girl. Just — I’m serious — just imagine being that little girl. Ten years old.Does anyone believe that it’s the highest majority view that that should not be able to be dealt with, or in any other state in the nation? A 10-year-old girl should be forced to give birth to a rapist’s child? I can tell you what: I don’t. I can’t think of anything as much more extreme.”
At the end of his comments, Mr. Biden repeated his condemnation of the backwardness of the Court’s decision and the fear of what other rights this court could take away with regards to contraception or same sex marriage.
“The Court and its allies are committed to moving America backward with fewer rights, less autonomy, and politicians invading the most personal of decisions. Remember the reasoning of this decision has an impact much beyond Roe and the right to privacy generally. Marriage equality, contraception, and so much more is at risk. This decision affects everyone — unrelated to choice — beyond choice. We cannot allow an out-of-control Supreme Court, working in conjunction with the extremist elements of the Republican Party, to take away freedoms and our personal autonomy. The choice we face as a nation is between the mainstream and the extreme, between moving forward and moving backwards, between allowing politicians to enter the most personal parts of our lives and protecting the right to privacy — yes, yes — embedded in our Constitution. This is a choice. This is a moment — the moment — the moment to restore the rights that have been taken away from us and the moment to protect our nation from an extremist agenda that is antithetical to everything we believe as Americans.”
Katie Hobbs and Regina Romero react to the Biden Executive Order
Arizona Secretary of State and Gubernatorial Candidate Katie Hobbs praised the Biden Executive Order, posting:
The choice to have a child is between a woman & her doctor. Period. The White House took a good first step, but now it’s up to state leaders to ensure we don’t stop here. As governor, I’ll boost access to reproductive health care & veto restrictions on a woman's right to choose.
— Katie Hobbs (@katiehobbs) July 8, 2022
So did Tucson Mayor Regina Romero, whose city is looking to become a haven for women if Arizona fully enforces its pre statehood draconian abortion measures.
Thank you @POTUS for fighting to protect women's Constitutional right to bodily autonomy.
Among its safeguards, today's executive action protects:
✅Access to medication abortion
✅Access to contraception
✅Patient health informationhttps://t.co/qrxpnmQDaQ— Regina Romero (@TucsonRomero) July 8, 2022
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