A Visibly Angry Biden Signs Executive Order On Abortion

President Biden, showing his anger that the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe V Wade, signed an executive order that strengthened Federal protections for reproductive healthcare. 

Via Yahoo News:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden said the Supreme Court decision overturning the right to an abortion was an exercise in "raw political power" and signed an executive order on Friday to help protect access to services to terminate pregnancies.

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.

His anger showed even more when he talked about the 10 year old Ohio rape victim that was forced to go out of state to get her pregnancy terminated.

"Imagine being a little girl. Just imagine being a little girl, 10 years old. Does anyone believe that?," he said.

Here is what the limited executive order does:

On Friday, Biden directed the Health and Human Services Department to take action to protect and expand access to "medication abortion" approved by the Food and Drug Administration, the White House said.

Experts have said a pill used to terminate early pregnancies is unlikely to become available without a prescription for years. States that already restrict the medication would not be affected by the presidential order.

He also directed the department to ensure women have access to emergency medical care, family planning services, and contraception, including intrauterine devices (IUDs).

In the executive order, Biden also directed his attorney general and White House counsel to convene pro bono attorneys and other organizations to provide legal counsel for patients seeking an abortion as well as abortion providers.