Biden Signs Executive Order Directing Medicaid Funding to Abortion Travel

President Biden signed an executive order Wednesday that will allow Medicaid funds to be used to facilitate travel for women seeking abortions in states where the procedure is still legal, likely violating the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits the federal financing of abortion.

The order will assist the acquisition of “reproductive health care for women who live in states where abortions are banned,” Biden said at the first meeting of the Interagency Task Force on Reproductive Healthcare Access on Wednesday. He claimed it also “advances research and data collection to evaluate the impact of this reproductive health crisis on maternal health” and will protect access to contraception.

The Hyde amendment prohibits federal funding from going toward abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, or when the health or life of the mother is at risk.