During a call with reporters, the Biden administration discussed the impact of the Dobbs ruling and what they are doing to protect reproductive freedom.
What The Biden Administration Is Doing To Protect Reproductive Freedom
Assistant to the President and Director of the Gender Policy Council Jen Klein told PoliticusUSA during a call with reporters.
We’re defending, of course, as you know, a woman’s right to emergency care before the Supreme Court, and we expect a decision imminently. Second, we have acted to protect access to safe and effective FDA-approved medication abortion. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court rejected a challenge to FDA, FDA ability to regulate medication abortion. Mifepristone, a drug that was approved by the FDA as safe and effective more than 20 years ago, remains available and approved for use, but attacks on medication abortion continue in states, in the courts and in Congress, these attacks are part of Republican elected officials extreme and dangerous agenda to ban abortion nationwide, while the Biden-Harris administration will continue to defend access to the safe and effective medication.
Third, we are strengthening privacy protections. In April, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a new rule to bolster reproductive health care privacy under HIPAA, because no one should have their medical records used against them, their doctor or their loved one just because they have sought or received lawful reproductive health care, forced or expanding access to affordable contraception. Last year, the FDA approved the first daily oral contraceptive for over the counter use and historic change.
The administration has also expanded contraceptive coverage at no cost under the Affordable Care Act, strengthened access through the Title 10 program, and improved contraception options for service members and veterans through lower costs and walk-in clinics. And finally, we’re supporting state partners who are on the front lines of both defensive and proactive fights to ensure access to reproductive health care. Vice President Harris has, of course, been the leading voice in this effort, traveling to more than 20 states and meeting with more than 250 state legislators, healthcare providers, and advocates in the past year alone. So that’s just some of the work we’re doing across the Biden-Harris administration to defend reproductive freedom.
I’ll close by saying that this administration believes that healthcare decisions should be made by a woman with her doctor, not politicians, and as we saw recently in Ohio and previously in Michigan, California, Kentucky, Vermont, Kansas and Montana, in every state where abortion has been on the ballot, the American people overwhelmingly vote to protect reproductive freedom, so President Biden and vice president Harris will continue fighting until we restore the protections of Roe versus Wade in federal law for all women in every state.
Biden Is Fighting To Protect Reproductive Freedom
The President is using all of his executive powers within the law to protect reproductive freedom. The steps that the Biden administration has taken do not get much if any, mainstream media coverage, but they are important for doing everything possible to protect women’s rights.
The best way for the American people to protect reproductive rights is to vote for Democratic candidates in November. Biden can’t do it alone. He needs a Democratic Congress. As Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) said on Sunday, Democrats are ready to step up and get this done. They just need voters to give them the power to make it happen.
The second anniversary of Dobbs isn’t a time to give up, but a moment to double down on the fight.