The White House on Monday announced the administration's new steps to ensure access to contraceptives, emergency abortions in hospitals, and abortion pills.
President Biden will also meet with the Select Committee on Reproductive Rights on Monday, the fourth time this senior group has met since its inception. They will be joined by several doctors who have worked in states where abortion is prohibited.
The announcement comes on the same day that Vice President Kamala Harris begins a national tour promoting abortion rights, as the Biden administration and campaign seek to gain momentum on the issue ahead of the 2024 election. I was disappointed.
It also marks the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that made abortion a constitutional right before being overturned in 2022.
“Women's health and lives are at risk because of Republican lawmakers. In states across the country, women are being turned away from emergency rooms and forced to go to court to get permission to receive the medical care they need. and are being transported hundreds of miles for medical care,” Biden said in a statement.
To expand access to contraceptives, health agencies are issuing guidance to private insurance companies to provide free coverage of a wide range of federally approved contraceptives under the Affordable Care Act. . Similar guidance would allow federal employees to receive similar benefits.
“In addition to this new guidance, and as we have previously made clear, we are encouraging sponsors and issuers of group health plans to remove impermissible barriers to ensuring that individuals participating in their plans have access to the contraceptive coverage they need. We continue to urge them to do so. It is the law,” Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a memo to insurance companies.
Regarding emergency abortions, HHS is increasing enforcement of the Emergency Medical Labor Act (EMTALA), which requires hospitals to perform emergency abortions to stabilize a patient's condition even in states where abortions are prohibited or restricted. It states that it is obligatory to provide it.
HHS is hiring a new team of experts to help hospitals and health care providers across the country comply with EMTALA requirements to “help all patients receive the emergency medical care required under federal law.” He said he would establish a The agency also announced plans to educate all patients about their rights.
EMTALA has become the latest front in the clash between federal and state abortion policies. The Justice Department is fighting high-profile cases against Texas and Idaho for denying women emergency abortion care, and the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the Idaho case in June. However, it is unclear how strictly the law is enforced outside of these cases.
The White House's actions reflect the president's reelection campaign and the broader Democratic Party's desire to put abortion at the forefront of the 2024 election.
The Biden campaign targeted former President Trump, the Republican front-runner, in a message about Monday's anniversary, arguing that Trump's inauguration led to the June 2022 Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. The purpose is to remind voters that
Biden and Vice President Harris are holding a campaign rally Tuesday in Virginia, a crucial state for Democrats in 2024. Harris will begin her tour of the battleground state of Wisconsin on Monday.
“Vice President Harris and I are fighting to protect women’s reproductive freedom against the dangerous, extreme, and outrageous policies of Republican officials. I stand with the American people and continue to call on Congress to restore Roe’s protections in federal law once and for all,” Biden said in a statement Monday.
But Democrats couldn't pass such a bill when they controlled both chambers of Congress, and they won't be able to do so unless Biden is reelected, extends his majority in the Senate, and regains a majority in the House. right.
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