*Calls for a vote to guarantee reproductive rights as a federal law
The Chairman Joseph Biden signed an Executive Order on Friday to defend the reproductive rights of women in the U.S., which includes abortion and contraception, as well as the protection of their privacy and access to information about them.
"The national ban on abortion will not happen as long as I am president, I will veto it," the U.S. president said at a press conference held from the White House on Friday morning.
And that is because, two weeks ago, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision overturning Roe v. Wade and eliminating a woman's constitutional right to choose, expressly taking away from the American people a right they had recognized for nearly 50 years: a woman's right to make her own reproductive health decisions, free from government interference.
The Executive Order builds on steps the Biden administration has already taken to defend reproductive rights:
- Safeguarding access to reproductive health services, including abortion and contraception;
- Protect patients' privacy and their access to accurate information;
- Promote the safety of patients, providers and clinics; and
- Coordinate the implementation of federal efforts to protect reproductive rights and access to health care.
The President has also directed the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to take action and report back to him within 30 days on efforts to protect access to medical abortion, ensure emergency medical care and protect access to contraception, launch public outreach and education efforts, and convene volunteer attorneys.
In addition, this executive order calls on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to take action against data brokers who sell private information to extremist groups or anyone else.
And he called, in particular, for protecting private health information in states with extreme laws.
Voting for the right to choose
While the President acknowledged the limitations facing his office in the face of the Supreme Court's ruling, he pointed out that, based on the Court's reasoning that there is no constitutional right to choose, "the only way to fulfill and restore that right for women in this country is by voting, by exercising power at the ballot box."
He explained that two additional pro-choice senators and one pro-choice House are needed to codify Roe as federal law. "Your vote can make that a reality."
"The Court has made it clear that it will not protect women's rights. Period. Having made the decision based on a reading of a document frozen in time in the 1860s, when women didn't even have the right to vote, the Court now practically challenges the women of America to go to the polls and restore the very rights they just took away," she said in her speech.
However, she stressed that "women do not lack electoral or political power. The percentage of women who register to vote and cast a ballot is consistently higher than that of men who do so."
"The women of America can determine the outcome of this matter," she said. "It is my hope and firm belief that women will, in fact, turn out in record numbers to reclaim the rights that have been taken away from them by the Court."
In this sense, she specified that voting will be the fastest way available for women's reproductive rights to become federal law.
"The fastest way to restore Roe v Wade is to pass a national law codifying it, which I will sign immediately upon its passage at my desk."
"We can't wait. Extreme Republican governors, extreme Republican state legislatures, and extreme Republicans in Congress in general, all of them have not only fought to take away our right, our rights, but now they are determined to go as far as they can."
He added that the Supreme Court's decision has encouraged the most extreme Republican governors to impose some of the harshest and most restrictive laws this country has seen in a long time, which not only put women's lives at risk.
"What we are witnessing is a giant step backwards in much of our country. Bans are already in place in 13 states. Twelve more states are likely to ban the election in the coming weeks," he stressed.
Biden stressed that, in several of these states, the laws are so extreme that they have raised the threat of criminal penalties for physicians and health care providers. "They are so extreme that many allow no exceptions, even in the case of rape or incest."
"If you want to change the circumstances of women and even girls in this country, go vote. When tens of millions of women vote this year, they will not be alone. Millions and millions of men will take up the fight alongside them to restore the right to choose and the broader right to privacy in this nation that they denied existed."
"For God's sake, there are elections in November. Vote, vote, vote, vote, vote," he said.
"The choice we face as a nation is between mainstream and extreme, between moving forward or moving backward, between allowing politicians into the most personal parts of our lives and protecting the right to privacy."
"This is about choice. This is a time to restore the rights that have been taken from us and a time to protect our nation from an extremist agenda that is antithetical to everything we believe in as Americans."
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