WASHINGTON, July 8 (Reuters) – US President Joe Biden will sign an executive order on Friday to help safeguard women’s access to abortion and contraception after the Supreme Court overturned the month past the Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion, the White House said.
Biden, a Democrat, has been pressured by her supporters, especially progressives, to take action after the historic decision, which changed about 50 years of protection of women’s reproductive rights.
The president’s powers are restricted, because U.S. states can make laws that restrict abortion and access to drugs, and the executive order is expected to have limited impact.
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Biden will tell the Department of Health and Human Services to take steps to protect and expand access to “drug abortion” approved by the Food and Drug Administration, the White House said.
Experts have said that a pill used to terminate early pregnancy is unlikely to be available without a prescription for years. States that already restrict medication would not be affected by the presidential order.
She will also lead the department so that women have access to emergency medical care, family planning services and contraception, including intrauterine devices (IUDs).
Biden’s attorney general and the White House attorney will convene pro bono lawyers and other organizations to offer legal advice to patients requesting an abortion, as well as abortion providers.
“This representation could include protecting the right to travel outside the state to seek medical attention,” the White House said in a statement.
The Supreme Court ruling restored the ability of states to ban abortion. As a result, women with unwanted pregnancies are faced with the option of traveling to another state where the procedure is still legal and available, buying abortion pills online, or having a potentially dangerous illegal abortion.
Biden, who is scheduled to comment on the matter at 11:30 am EDT (15:30 GMT), has condemned the court’s decision. Conservatives and anti-abortion activists celebrated it.
The problem may help push Democrats to the polls in the November midterm elections, when Republicans have a chance to take control of Congress. Democrats have a small majority in the House of Representatives and control the equally divided Senate by the tiebreaker vote of Vice President Kamala Harris.
Friday’s Biden executive order also aims to protect patient privacy and ensure the safety of mobile abortion clinics at state borders, and leads the establishment of a working group to coordinate the administration response on access to reproductive health, the White House said.
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Report by Jeff Mason; Edited by Edwina Gibbs, Heather Timmons and Deepa Babington
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