On Fri., Biden signed an Executive Order (EO) aimed at protecting abortion rights, in response to the Supreme Court's recent overturning of Roe v. Wade.
The EO will pressure Health and Human Services (HHS) Sec. Xavier Becerra to take steps to ensure that services like emergency contraception, long-lasting contraception like IUDs, and FDA-approved abortion medication are accessible.
While this executive order is a step in the right direction, even it is limited in scope and the impact will likely not be very large. Congress needs to step up and codify the protections of Roe v. Wade to ensure women's rights to choose. This is an urgent human rights issue.
Abortion laws were left up to the states for almost 200 years before the Supreme Court nationalized the procedure in 1973. While pro-abortion activists may want us to believe that overturning Roe is the end of women's rights, the truth is that returning the power to the states is simply about upholding democracy and putting the issue back into the hands of the people.