Chris Lange, FISM News
President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris said “extremist Republicans” and the Supreme Court have created a “health care crisis in America” during the second meeting of the White House’s Task Force on Reproductive Healthcare Access on Tuesday.
Biden has increasingly been on the attack against Republicans, consistently using terms like “extremists” and “ultra-MAGA” in an attempt to invoke fear and rally Democrats in the lead-up to the midterms.
Democrats are banking on those who support abortion to be the key to midterm elections, though the majority of Americans support at least some limits to the destruction of human life in the womb and voters appear to have a much more nuanced view on the issue than is promoted by the mainstream media.
The president said that the Supreme Court’s decision has had a chilling effect in GOP-led states that have since imposed restrictions or near-total bans on the life-ending procedure. At one point, Biden made reference to a teen whom he said was denied access to arthritis medicine as a result of abortion restrictions.
“We’re not going to sit by and let Republicans throughout the country enact extreme policies,” Biden declared.
“Meanwhile, congressional Republicans are doubling down on the extreme position with the proposal for a national ban,” he continued, referring to Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.) proposed nationwide ban on abortion after 15 weeks.
“Let me be clear what that means: it means that even if you live in a state where extremist Republican officials aren’t running the show, your right to choose will still be at risk,” Biden added.
Vice President Harris said the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision has created a “health care crisis in America” and that “extremist so-called leaders [are] attacking the freedom and liberty of millions of women at a state level.”
“What we’re seeing in laws around our country is the criminalization of doctors and health care providers,” Harris said. “If there was a national law that was passed in the United States Congress to protect reproductive care, so-called leaders then could not ban abortion, even in the cases of rape and incest.”
The president and top White House officials announced updated guidelines and new funding to protect abortion rights, including the release of $6 million by the Department of Health and Human Services to promote abortion services in the country.
Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona announced new guidance for colleges and universities that reinforces their obligations under Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination at learning institutions that receive federal funds.
“If you or someone you know encounters discrimination today, I want to be clear with college leaders in America,” Cardona said. “Access to contraception should not be in question and access to health care – including reproductive health care – is critical to the well-being and success of our nation’s students. If you’re committed to student success, you must be committed to student health.”
In the wake of the Dobbs decision, Democrats and abortion providers have increasingly — some might suggest purposely — conflated the term “contraception,” which prevents pregnancy from taking place, with “abortion,” which ends the life of an unborn child.
Democrats have also misconstrued laws in conservative states, falsely claiming that they would hinder life-saving procedures when all states have clauses that allow for these types of medical emergencies.
Biden proliferated this narrative during the meeting, praising physician members of the task force “who are on the frontlines of this crisis,” and adding that “many of these laws would make doctors criminals just for treating a patient.”
This article was partially informed by Reuters and Fox News reports.