As part of their celebration of Women’s Equality Day on Friday, U.S. President Joe Biden and White House officials met with state and local authorities to talk about how to protect abortion rights in the face of a wave of Republican-led legal challenges around the country, Reuters reports.
At the White House, Biden, co-chair of the Gender Policy Council Jen Klein, and director of intergovernmental relations Julie Rodriguez visited judges from Texas, Kansas, New York, Maryland, North Carolina, and Delaware.
In November’s midterm elections, which traditionally typically result in the party losing control of one or both chambers of Congress, Democrats are growing more optimistic that the Supreme Court ruling would increase voter support.
Biden issued an executive order requiring the production of a report by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which expands on previously stated initiatives to address pharmaceutical abortion and patient privacy.
Additionally, HHS sent a letter to state governors highlighting the need for healthcare professionals to provide abortion services when a mother’s life is in danger and the legal protections afforded such operations under federal law.
Recently, the White House launched a three-pronged campaign to defend access to abortion that, as first reported by Reuters, relies on two federal statutes to target states that restrict abortion, informs voters about the effects on women, and emphasizes how forced pregnancies hurt both women and men.
A federal judge on Wednesday prevented Idaho from enforcing a restriction on abortions in situations where pregnant women need emergency treatment, a day after a judge in Texas disagreed with the Biden administration on the same matter. The contrasting decisions arose in two of the earliest challenges related to Biden’s efforts to maintain the legality of abortion.
Following the Supreme Court decision, around half of the states in the US have attempted to ban or restrict abortions, or are anticipated to do so.
Abortion rights have risen dramatically in importance among Democratic voters, according to a recent Pew Research Center poll, from 46% in March to 71% this week.
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