WASHINGTON (Washington Insider Magazine) – In the midst of some party dissatisfaction about the administration’s response to the reversal of Roe v. Wade, President Joe Biden convened virtually on Friday with Democratic governors to discuss reproductive health care.
Biden received a list of prospective measures from Kathy Hochul in New York, including extra support for family planning programs generally so that providers might direct private funds toward abortion services.
Hochul also urged Biden to think twice about using federal facilities for abortion treatment, a request that the White House has described as having “dangerous ramifications.”
Asserting that there are additional government chances to preserve women’s access to treatment, New Mexico’s Lujan Grisham claimed she “entirely” agreed with Hochul’s assessment and urged that Biden look into Indian Health Service clinics and sovereign tribal countries as potential new targets.
The Supreme Court’s ruling eliminating 50 years of abortion rights was denounced by the president once more on Friday, calling it “terrible.”
As a result of the Roe judgement, Biden also talked about some of the actions he took, including directing the Department Of justice to protect women seeking medical attention outside of their home state and the Health and Human Services to guarantee access to federally-approved drugs like contraception and the abortion drug mifepristone.
Democrats disagree, arguing that given the high court’s ruling was leaked in early May, the current administration should have been more ready for Roe’s fall.
Sen. Patty Murray of Washington voiced disappointment that the Biden team wasn’t prepared, telling ABC News on Monday that Biden should exert all of his resources to safeguard abortion access in America.
Ned Lamont of Connecticut, Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, Jared Polis of Colorado, Jay Insee of Washington, Daniel McKee of Rhode Island, and Kate Brown of Oregon were among the other governors present at the virtual roundtable.
Both before and after the high court’s judgment, their states have taken action to safeguard women’s accessibility to reproductive healthcare.
A new law enhancing abortion rights was signed into effect in Connecticut by Governor Lamont. The law went into effect today and contains safeguards for medical professionals as well as people coming from other states to get an abortion.
According to Hochul, the state legislature will be one step closer to upholding abortion rights in the state constitution after today if equal rights are added to the agenda of their special session.
Some of the governors there urged Biden to take more action and urged Congress to approve the Women’s Health Protection Act to make Roe a federal law.
In order to codify Roe, the president called for a special exemption in the Senate filibuster yesterday, but admitted on Friday that he lacked the numbers.
According to a representative for Senator Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., her opinion on the filibuster is “unchanged.” Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., a fellow moderate who expressed a desire for a bipartisan solution, is likewise unlikely to accept revisions to the rule.
In order to bring the law to his desk, Biden declared on Friday, the American people must elect more Democrats to the House and Senate.
According to Biden, a Republican-led Congress would attempt to establish a complete ban on abortion.
