Democrats applauded President Joe Biden’s Friday executive order shoring up nationwide access to abortion and contraceptives, while some Republicans called the measure “extreme.”
Biden’s order comes after the Supreme Court‘s ruling that overturned constitutional protections for abortion and sent jurisdiction back to the states. Access to medication-induced abortions will be protected through the Department of Health and Human Services, and the order also addresses patient privacy concerns.
BIDEN TO SIGN ABORTION EXECUTIVE ORDER AMID DEMOCRATIC FRUSTRATION OVER INACTION
House Democratic leadership followed the order with an announcement that they would bring the Women’s Health Protection Act to the floor for votes next week, though the act has repeatedly failed in the Senate.
“While this executive order is important and will help women access reproductive healthcare where they need it and maintain privacy, in truth, there is very little that the president can do on his own to address the dangers posed by the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson,” said Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD). “It is up to Congress to take meaningful action by enacting laws that guarantee reproductive freedom in all states and territories of our union.”
Senate Democrats also called for passing the WHPA, saying Biden’s executive order won’t do enough to make up for the absence of Roe v. Wade.
“I’m glad President Biden has heeded the call of Senate Democrats to issue an executive order to help protect access to abortion,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) tweeted. “Now Congress must take decisive action to codify reproductive rights by passing the Women’s Health Protection Act.”
Since the act has very little chance of passing the Senate due to the filibuster that requires a 60-vote majority, there are renewed calls for ending the rule and codifying abortion access into law.
.@POTUS‘s Executive Order to protect reproductive health care & abortion is an important step in fighting back against the attacks by six extremist Supreme Court justices on the rights of women.
Now, let’s abolish the filibuster to codify Roe & pass my SCOTUS term limits bill.
— Rep. Ro Khanna (@RepRoKhanna) July 8, 2022
While Democrats called the Supreme Court ruling extreme, Republicans said the same of the executive order and allowing abortion at any point.
“Being Pro-Life is not extreme, defending abortion all the way up to partial-birth abortion is,” said Sen Bill Cassidy (R-LA) in a tweet. “The SCOTUS ruling on Roe did not change any laws. It upheld the Constitution & gave state legislatures the ability to write their own laws to represent the values of their state.”
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Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) called the order an appeal to the “pro-abortion radicals” of the Democratic Party and made a dig at a gaffe Biden made when announcing the order, reading aloud teleprompter instructions to repeat a line of his speech.
ICYMI – @POTUS signed an executive order limiting the people’s right to protect preborn life in their own states. Pres. Biden will stop at nothing to appease the pro-abortion radicals in his party.
Utah stands for life. *Repeat the line*
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) July 8, 2022
Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI) ripped the order, simply tweeting, “The President has no Constitutional authority to let people kill babies.”
