Since the Supreme Court
overturned Roe last month, over a dozen states have banned or severely restricted abortion — and many more are likely to follow. The ruling leaves behind
fear and confusion,
legal gray areas and
a patchwork of abortion care — all of which will disproportionately impact low-income people, women of color and folks who live in rural areas. Many people will have to travel out of state to get abortions, while others with fewer resources will be forced to carry unwanted pregnancies to term.
“An extremist Supreme Court overturning Roe and Republican politicians criminalizing abortion is a national emergency, and we start to address this crisis by using every tool to protect Americans’ health,” Warren told HuffPost.
The administration has taken some critical steps to protect abortion rights in the last week, including issuing an
executive order that promises to protect access to medication abortion, contraception and emergency contraceptives like Plan B. Biden also called on the Senate to make an
exception to the filibuster in order to vote on the Women’s Health Protection Act and codify Roe. This week, HHS issued multiple memos to clarify federal guidelines that
safeguard physicians making emergency abortion decisions and
offer protections to patients denied prescriptions for reproductive health care services.
But Senate Democrats believe the administration can do more. Declaring a public health emergency would allow Biden to “unlock powerful flexibilities and resources for federal, state, and local governments” in order to protect abortion rights, the senators argued — similar to what the administration has done during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Specifically, a public health emergency would allow doctors licensed in one state to provide reproductive health care in other states and expand the group of people covered by Medicaid programs allowing patients insurance coverage for out-of-state medical expenses. It would also protect access to medication abortion and help HHS gather information and research on which communities need the most aid in a post-Roe world.