WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden will sign an executive order on Wednesday aimed at making it easier for women seeking abortions to travel between states to access the procedure.
More specifically, one of Biden's proposals would allow states that have not outlawed abortion to apply for specific Medicaid waivers that would, in effect, help them treat women who travelled from out of state.
The order will require health care providers to comply with federal nondiscrimination laws and streamline the collection of important data and information about maternal health at the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Senior administration officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the executive order ahead of the formal announcement, outlined the details, the Associated Press reported.
Biden, who continues to isolate in the White House residence after a rebound case of COVID-19, will sign the executive order as he helps launch a federal task force on access to reproductive care, led by Vice President Kamala Harris, the officials said.
However, the new order falls short of the expectations of Democratic lawmakers and abortion advocacy groups for the Biden administration since the Supreme Court's decision overturning the landmark 1973 ruling Roe v. Wade.
A key request for Biden is to declare a public health emergency on abortion, which White House officials said would do little to free up federal resources or activate new legal authorities.
Wednesday's order is the latest in a series of executive actions by the Biden administration since the constitutional right to abortion was gutted in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization in June.
The Justice Department sued Idaho on Tuesday over its law criminalizing abortion, which Attorney General Merrick Garland argued violates federal law.
With PTI inputs