Chris Lange, FISM News
President Biden on Wednesday signed his second executive order to expand abortion access following the repeal of Roe v. Wade. The latest directive lays the groundwork to establish federal Medicaid funding to pay for women to travel between states to get abortions.
The order is ripe for legal challenges, however. Current U.S. law bars the use of federal funds to be used to cover abortions unless it involves a pregnancy resulting from rape or incest or places the mother’s life in jeopardy.
The Biden administration is hoping to exploit loopholes in the law by claiming that state abortion bans could threaten the health of women.
In remarks given at the signing ceremony for the order, the president claimed that “emergency medical care [is] being denied to women experiencing miscarriages.”
The comment is particularly noteworthy because Planned Parenthood recently altered language on its website to blur the distinction between abortion and ectopic pregnancy. Critics slammed the move as an effort by the world’s largest abortion provider to push “misinformation” linking life-ending abortion with life-saving treatment for ectopic pregnancies in an effort to subvert state abortion restrictions.
In a press briefing earlier in the day, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the Department of Health and Human Services would invite states in which abortion remains legal to apply for Medicaid funding to “provide reproductive healthcare to women who live in states where abortion is banned.”
Biden’s order also directs Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to ensure that health care providers comply with federal non-discrimination laws so that women receive medically necessary care without delay,” according to the White House Fact Sheet on the executive order.
Biden referred to the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson that sent abortion rights decisions back to the states as a national “healthcare crisis.”
The president also took the opportunity to praise Kansas voters who on Tuesday rejected a proposition to amend the state’s constitution to allow lawmakers to ban or restrict abortions in the state. Biden said the vote “sent a powerful signal that this fall, the American people will vote to preserve and protect their rights and refuse to let them be ripped away by politicians,” adding, “And my administration has their back.”
Biden signed the executive order during the first meeting of the Task Force on Reproductive Healthcare Access, which was formed last month in response to the Supreme Court’s abortion ruling, according to the White House. The president, who remains in isolation following a COVID-19 diagnosis, attended virtually.
A Marist poll from earlier this year shows that nearly 6 in 10 Americans oppose tax-funded abortions, which could complicate matters for an administration that is trying to regain momentum amongst voters prior to the midterm elections.