WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden will ink an executive order Friday aimed at strengthening access to contraception, the White House said, a year after the Supreme Court upturned the constitutional right to abortion.
US President to Ink Executive Order Expanding Access to Contraception
In a statement, the White House said the executive order would provide women with private health insurance under the government-subsidized Affordable Care Act access to all Food and Drug Administration-approved contraceptives.
In 2022, the apex court decided to downturn the milestone 1973 Roe v. Wade verdict that guaranteed a constitutional right to abortion and left it up to each state to decide. That same day, many conservative states approached the court to ban abortion, forcing clinics to hastily shut down or move to areas where they could still operate.
The White House said, “In the last year, women have been refused essential medical care to reserve their health and even save their lives,”.
“US President Biden and Vice President Harris stand with the majority of the US citizens who believe the right to choose is fundamental—and who have made their voices heard at every opportunity since the apex court’s decision,” the White House maintained.
It is Biden’s 1st executive order aimed at protecting and increasing access to contraception.
A study conducted by the Society of Family Planning stated that the average number of monthly abortions in the US between July 2022 and March 2023 was 79,031, 3.3 percent fewer than in April and May 2022, when an average of 81,730 abortions a month were performed.
