Biden to Sign Executive Order Protecting Access to Abortion Pills

President Joe Biden will sign on Friday an executive order protecting access to reproductive health care, the White House said. This comes two weeks after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a 1973 decision guaranteeing a woman's constitutional right to have an abortion.

The order will direct Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to ensure FDA-approved abortion pills are "as widely accessible as possible" and protect access to contraceptives including emergency contraception and IUDs. The order will also ensure emergency medical care for anyone who is pregnant or has had a miscarriage or abortion, organize volunteer attorneys to represent patients, providers and third parties seeking or offering reproductive health services, better protect sensitive health information and launch further public education about access to reproductive health care.

It will also set up an interagency task force, between the HHS and the White House Gender Policy Council, on reproductive health care access. This group will include Attorney General Merrick Garland, who will provide "technical assistance to states affording legal protection to out-of-state patients as well as providers who offer legal reproductive health care." In addition, the order will allow federal workers to use paid sick leave to travel for reproductive care and will ensure that all US military members and their families have access to abortion services.