Biden, a Democrat, has been under pressure from his own party to take action after the landmark decision last month to overturn Roe v Wade, which upended roughly 50 years of protections for women’s reproductive rights.
The president’s powers are constrained because U.S. states can make laws restricting abortion and access to medication, and the executive order is expected to have a limited impact.
“What we’re witnessing wasn’t a constitutional judgment, it was an exercise in raw political power,” Biden told reporters at the White House after quoting heavily from the dissenting opinion in the ruling.
“We cannot allow an out of control Supreme Court, working in conjunction with extremist elements of the Republican party, to take away freedoms and our personal autonomy,” he said.
The President later Tweeted that ‘As long as I’m president, I will veto any attempt. I don’t care what they try to do. I will never let it become law.’
Congressional Republicans want abortion to be illegal.
But let me tell you something: As long as I’m president, I will veto any attempt.
I don’t care what they try to do. I will never let it become law.
— President Biden (@POTUS) July 8, 2022
President Biden’s executive order protects access to abortion and contraception, as well as the right to medical care.
