Biden Signs Executive Order Aimed at Safeguarding Access to Abortion and Providing Guidance for Health Care Providers

Kansas citizens voted to keep the right to abortion 2:06

Washington (CNN)

President Joe Biden signed an executive order Wednesday to help ensure access to abortion in light of the Supreme Court's decision earlier this summer to strike down the constitutional right to the procedure.

The president said the executive order will help women travel out of state for abortions, ensure health care providers comply with federal law so women are not delayed in receiving care, and advance research and data collection. "to assess the impact this reproductive health crisis is having on maternal health and other health conditions."

• Abortion in the United States: where it is prohibited, restricted or allowed

Biden signed the executive order during the inaugural meeting of the administration's newly established Task Force on Access to Reproductive Health Care, a task force made up of representatives from various departments of the federal government.

Cabinet members are also expected to brief the president on steps their respective agencies have taken "to uphold reproductive rights" at Wednesday's meeting, an administration official told reporters Tuesday.

The order directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS, for its acronym in English), Xavier Becerra, to consider "all appropriate measures to ensure that health care providers comply with federal laws against discrimination so that women receive medically necessary care without delay," including steps to provide health care providers with technical and legal guidance amid the patchwork of state legal restrictions on abortion care following the Supreme Court's decision.

They support women in states where abortion is prohibited in the US 3:11

Last month, CNN reported that doctors have struggled to navigate Byzantine guidance as states across the country pass ever-tightening abortion restrictions, with experts warning of "a huge chilling effect" on doctors who perform miscarriage surgeries even when doctors "are confident that what they are doing is within the letter of the law."

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Wednesday's executive order also directs HHS to consider actions to ensure that women who travel across state lines seeking abortions have access to health care services, including through Medicaid.

Last month, a bill guaranteeing women the right to travel across states for abortions failed to pass the Senate after Republicans blocked the measure.

According to the official, that would allow states to provide care to out-of-state patients seeking abortions through a Medicaid 1115 waiver, which would allow states to waive certain state requirements for providing care and help cover "certain costs." ".

The executive order further directs HHS to expand research efforts on maternal health data, "to accurately measure the impact that declining access to reproductive health services is having on women's health," the official said on Monday. Tuesday.

Wednesday's decree is the second signed by Biden after the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v.

Wade.

Last month, Biden signed an executive order that he said would safeguard access to abortion care and contraceptives, protect patient privacy and establish an interagency task force to use "every federal tool available to protect access to reproductive health care.

Ultimately, however, there is no action the president can take to restore the national right to abortion, and Biden has publicly acknowledged that his options for expanding abortion access remain limited.

This is a breaking story and will be updated.

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