Biden Signs Executive Order Aimed At Protecting Access To Abortion, Contraception

President Joe Biden will sign an executive order Friday aimed at “protecting access to reproductive health,” the White House announced.

The “Executive Order Protecting Access to Reproductive Health Care Services” is the Biden administration’s latest response to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. That decision, decried by Biden as a “tragic error,” has reportedly caused friction within the Democratic Party and the president, with some members quietly questioning the administration’s response.

Only Congress has the ability to codify abortion rights, so Biden’s executive order is designed to build “on the actions his Administration has already taken to defend reproductive rights,” according to the White House.

Biden’s executive order establishes “an Interagency Task Force” designed to help coordinate federal “policymaking and program development” to combat the Supreme Court decision, the administration noted. Attorney General Merrick Garland will be part of this task force and part of his job will be to “provide technical assistance to state affording legal protection to out-of-state patients.”

The order, in part, directs Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra to “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.” It also directs the head of the agency to do more in protecting access to contraption, the White House announced.