(The Hill) — President Biden slammed the “devastating consequences” of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. on Saturday — the one-year anniversary Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, which struck down a constitutional right to abortion.
Biden said in a statement that the court’s ruling has allowed states to implement “extreme and dangerous” abortion bans that have jeopardized the life and health of women, forced them to potentially travel hundreds of miles to receive health care and threatened to declare doctors as criminals for providing care that their patients need.
About two dozen states have enacted abortion restrictions in the year since Roe was overturned, most of them restricting the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant, or almost entirely.
Biden said state abortion bans are only part of the effort to restrict abortion access, as congressional Republicans are also pushing for the revocation of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of the abortion pill mifepristone.
“Their agenda is extreme, dangerous, and out-of-step with the vast majority of Americans. My Administration will continue to protect access to reproductive health care and call on Congress to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade in federal law once and for all,” he said.
The Supreme Court paused an order from a federal judge suspending the FDA’s approval of the pill in April while an appeal from the Biden administration plays out.
Biden and Vice President Harris met with abortion rights advocates on Friday ahead of the first anniversary of the Dobbs ruling, vowing to continue to try to expand protections for abortion and other forms of reproductive health care.
He tweeted that the only way to stop those who would take away reproductive rights from women is to elect members of Congress who would support passing a federal law to codify the court’s ruling from Roe.
Biden also formally received the backing of three major reproductive rights groups when Planned Parenthood Action Fund, NARAL Pro-Choice America and EMILY’s List endorsed his 2024 reelection bid.
He signed an executive order on Friday to increase access to birth control and family planning as part of his administration’s efforts to protect reproductive health care.
The order instructs the secretaries of the Treasury, Labor and Health and Human Services to consider new actions to protect birth control access, like ensuring private health insurance provides coverage for all contraceptives that receive FDA approval.
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