Pointing to the mobilization of resources after similar announcements for the COVID-19 pandemic, the House Democrats claimed those announcements could ease the "unprecedented strain on limited resources" plaguing abortion providers because of increased abortion restrictions in many states now that Roe v. Wade has been scrapped.
"The Supreme Court’s radical and dangerous decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization has precipitated a full-scale reproductive health crisis across our nation," the 83 House Democrats announced in a letter to Biden and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.
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"It has also plunged our health system into a state of uncertainty and upheaval that threatens patients’ lives. Abortion bans can unnecessarily impede lifesaving medical procedures in the event of pregnancy complications or loss," they went on.
Over the weekend, Biden explained to reporters he was mulling issuing a public health emergency declaration to mobilize federal resources for abortion, yet the White House further conceded it was not "a great option" because it "doesn’t free very many resources." Biden has been urging Congress to pass a law codifying a national right to abortion access, but thus far, the endeavor has fallen short amid stiff opposition from Republicans in the Senate.
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The 83 House Democrats further called on Biden to use his authority under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act, which allows HHS to provide immunity from liability during a health emergency. They asked Biden to use that power to guarantee "continued access to medication abortion" — in other words, access to the abortion pill.
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"Relevant activities may include yet are not restricted to Public Health Services Corps team deployments, Medicaid State Plan Amendment flexibilities to back safe-haven states, and the ability to accelerate access to new medications authorized for abortion," the lawmakers argued.
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Most of the signatories hail from the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Biden has been dogged by Democratic frustration over the perceived lack of aggressive action to counter the overturning of precedents first established in Roe.
Yet administration officials pushed back on the notion Biden has been passive, stating there are limits to the executive branch's authority.
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“When we looked at the public health emergency, we learned a couple things: One is that it doesn’t free very many resources,” announced Jen Klein, the director of the White House Gender Policy Council, due to Politico. “It’s what’s in the public health emergency fund, and there’s very little money — tens of thousands of dollars in it. So that didn’t seem like a great option. And it also doesn’t release a significant amount of legal authority. And so that’s why we haven’t taken that action yet.”
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