Biden's executive order to protect reproductive healthcare services

While there is no singular action that U.S. President Biden can take to restore the right to access to a safe abortion for all American women, he signed an executive order on Friday to ’protect healthcare service delivery and promote access to critical reproductive healthcare services, including abortion”.

Congress will have to codify the ruling that legalized abortion and was overturned by the Supreme Court into federal law for abortion rights to be restored, Biden has said, but until and unless that happens, what will his executive order do to protect access to all forms of reproductive health care in the U.S.?

Biden’s executive order defines “reproductive healthcare services” as medical, surgical, counseling, or referral services relating to the human reproductive system, including services relating to pregnancy or the termination of a pregnancy.

The order tasks the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to submit a report identifying potential protective actions for reproductive services within 30 days.

The HHS report is ordered to address the potential actions of: expanding access to abortion care, outreach and education, information sharing on free and reduced cost health care services, and how pregnant patients or patients experiencing pregnancy loss will receive full protection of emergency medical care.

The order tasks the U.S. Attorney General and the Counsel to the President to convene a meeting of private pro bono attorneys and other associations to encourage legal representation and assistance for patients and providers.

The order directs the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security to consider legal actions to ensure “the safety of patients, providers, and third parties, and ways to secure clinics, including mobile clinics, pharmacies and other entities dispensing reproductive healthcare services.

The order encourages the Chair of the Federal Trade Commission to consider legal actions to protect consumers’ privacy when they seek information about reproductive healthcare services.

The order asks the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Attorney General to consider actions to educate consumers on how best to protect their health privacy data.

The order establishes a Task Force which will work to identify and coordinate activities to protect access to essential reproductive healthcare services.

The order also tasks the Attorney General with providing technical assistance, as legal, concerning Federal constitutional protections to those states seeking to afford legal protection to out-of-state patients and to providers that offer legal reproductive healthcare.

(CGTN)