Joe Biden and the Democrats have tossed all norms when it comes to the Supreme Court making decisions they don’t like. The proper response from politicians is to say something along the lines of, “Well, while we don’t agree with the decision, that’s now the law and we’ll attempt to deal with it” or words to that effect.
But Biden and the Democrats have thrown that out the window. On Friday morning, Biden not only attacked the Court, but he also talked about what he was going to do to try to get around their decision. Democrats have indicated they are furious at him for lack of action, and this is his way of trying to convince them that he’s doing something.
Biden blasts “the Supreme Court's terrible, extreme, & I think, so-totally wrongheaded decision to overturn Roe v. Wade,” telling reporters “This was not a decision driven by the Constitution, & despite what those Justices in the majority said…not a decision driven by history.” pic.twitter.com/9jlJsVBoUJ
— DJ Judd (@DJJudd) July 8, 2022
Biden called the Court’s action “extreme” and “totally wrongheaded.” “What we’re witnessing wasn’t a constitutional judgment, it was an exercise in raw political power.”
“I’m asking the Justice Department, that much like they did in the civil rights era, to do something, to do everything in their power to protect these women seeking to invoke their rights,” Biden said at the White House, standing alongside Vice President Kamala Harris and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.
He indicated he was going to try to protect access to abortion. The executive order was going to have the DOJ push back against state efforts to limit the ability of women to cross state lines to get an abortion or federally approved medication.
Friday’s executive order will prompt Becerra to take steps to ensure access to abortion, including FDA-approved medication abortion and expanded access “to the full range of reproductive health services,” according to an administration fact sheet shared with CNN. Those services include “emergency contraception and long-acting reversible contraception like intrauterine devices (IUDs),” the fact sheet says, citing coverage of birth control under the Affordable Care Act.
HHS is tasked with submitting a report within the next 30 days to the President regarding the implementation of the order’s provisions, which also include steps to increase outreach and protect the medical and digital privacy of patients seeking abortions.
In addition, the order establishes an interagency task force between the HHS and the White House Gender Policy Council, which includes Attorney General Merrick Garland, who the White House says will provide “technical assistance to states affording legal protection to out-of-state patients as well as providers who offer legal reproductive health care.”
He didn’t go as far as some would have hoped.
SCOOP: The Biden administration considered declaring a public health emergency to preserve broad access to abortion services following the overturn of Roe, but officials ultimately decided against the move, according to people familiar with the matter. (Story on @TheTerminal)
— Shira Stein (@shiramstein) July 8, 2022
This isn’t going to go over well with the left or convince them that he’s doing enough, so he’s going to fail on that end. At the same time, he’s continuing to throw the Court under the bus in a disgraceful manner.
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