President Joe Biden issued an executive order Friday that he said was intended to help to protect women’s right to reproductive healthcare services.
The executive order has four main tenants:
- Safeguarding access to reproductive health care services, including abortion and contraception;
- Protecting the privacy of patients and their access to accurate information;
- Promoting the safety and security of patients, providers, and clinics; and
- Coordinating the implementation of Federal efforts to protect reproductive rights and access to health care
“We’re in a national health care crisis and need officials at every level of government to do everything within their authority to fight for access to abortion,” said Jacqueline Ayers, the senior vice president of policy, organizing, and campaigns at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, in a statement.
Addia Wuchner, the executive director of Kentucky Right to Life, said the order isn’t clear and is an abuse of power.
“I find today’s executive order by President Biden, which is rather vague and lacking clear guidance, is in reality an ‘exercise in raw political power’ on behalf of the abortion industry,” Wuchner said. “The abortion industry with deep, deep pockets, that under the guise of caring about women’s health, ends the life of pre born children. As committed prowoman and prolife advocates, Kentucky Right to Life has the obligation to call out such deceptive actions. We will continue to work with and challenge today’s leaders to explore opportunities that focus on women and children and assist them in finding solutions.”
One thing the order doesn’t do is do much to counteract the decision made by the Supreme Court two weeks ago that overturned Roe v. Wade.
“Amid the Supreme Court stripping Americans of their constitutional right to abortion after nearly 50 years, we need an urgent and robust response to ensure people get the essential health care they need,” Ayers said. “Planned Parenthood is encouraged the administration is reaffirming its commitment to abortion access and looks forward to working toward implementation of these and other strategies to address this crisis.”
In Kentucky, the federal order could conflict with state policy. In the 2022 legislative session, the Republican supermajority passed House Bill 3, a bill that, among other things, sought to ban the use of misoprostol and mifepristone, which are two drugs used for abortion. In December, a federal rule allowed women to obtain these drugs through the mail, and in Biden’s order, he directed the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide a report in 30 days regarding the use of abortion medication.
“HHS will take additional action to protect and expand access to abortion care, including access to medication that the FDA approved as safe and effective over twenty years ago. These actions will build on the steps the Secretary of HHS has already taken at the President’s direction following the decision to ensure that medication abortion is as widely accessible as possible,” Biden’s fact sheet reads.
But, House Bill 3 argues that these drugs shouldn’t be available through the mail due to the danger they pose.
The pills can allegedly cause excessive bleeding, which can also occur during an ectopic pregnancy, said Katie Glenn, government affairs counsel at Americans United for Life, an anti-abortion group in the United States, during a Kentucky House committee meeting in March. She told a story about how a woman in India was bleeding due to the medicine but thought it was just a side effect. It turned out she had an ectopic pregnancy, and she died.
Opponents of the bill say that abortions are one of the safest procedures.
“Elective termination of pregnancy, specifically the use of medication-induced abortion, is one of the safest outpatient procedures that we provide,” said Hanna Peterson, an OBGYN doctor in the University of Louisville’s healthcare system, during the same committee meeting. “Far safer than childbirth, with complications less than one percent nationwide.”
While this type of abortion is currently available, because there’s a temporary injunction against both the fetal heartbeat bill and House Bill 3, it could cause issues for Kentuckians, as patients must go through a telehealth service to receive a prescription for abortion medication. Kentucky law prohibits the use of telehealth services to receive abortion services.
“In Kentucky, we already had a long-standing rule on the books that you couldn’t do telemedicine for abortion, and that did mean that you could not access medication abortion via the mail,” said Tamarra Wieder, the Kentucky State Director of Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates, to LINK nky after the overturning of Roe v. Wade last month. “That’s been a long-standing ban in our Commonwealth since 2018.”
Nationally, Congress would need to codify abortion access through legislation in order for it to become law and prevent the override of Roe v. Wade, but that seems unlikely with the votes not there in the Senate.
“President Biden has made clear that the only way to secure a woman’s right to choose is for Congress to restore the protections of Roe as federal law,” a White House fact sheet reads. “Until then, he has committed to doing everything in his power to defend reproductive rights and protect access to safe and legal abortion.”