Biden expands abortion, contraception protections
One of the first headlines that popped up this morning was on a Jill Filopic column at Slate: Biden Is Whiffing It on the Most Important Issue for Democrats. Biden says restoring abortion rights will be his No. 1 priority in a second term. Well?
The column criticizes the Biden administration for issuing “executive orders to protect abortion and contraception, but those do not invalidate state abortion bans or potential contraception bans.” Filopic adds, “The Department of Health and Human Services issued an important directive on the long-standing Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, confirming that hospitals receiving federal Medicaid dollars have to care for and stabilize any patient who comes through their doors, regardless of that patient’s ability to pay.” But they have limited effect.
So “it’s hard to say that restoring abortion rights has been the No. 1 priority of Biden’s administration,” Filopic continues (in a post likely filed over the weekend), “because, while he has made some statements supporting abortion rights, the president simply hasn’t made it a cornerstone of his campaign.”
And yet.
Flipping over to the Washington Post there is Biden expands abortion, contraception protections on Roe anniversary:
The White House on Monday is announcing new steps intended to ensure access to contraception, abortion medication and emergency abortions at hospitals. It represents President Biden’s latest bid to contrast himself with Republican challengers who support strict abortion limits and arrives on the anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling that guaranteed abortion rights for nearly 50 years.
The effort to expand access to contraception involves several measures. Federal agencies are issuing guidance that would make no-cost contraceptives more available under the Affordable Care Act and take similar actions to expand contraception access for federal employees. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra also plans to send a letter to health insurers instructing them of their obligation to provide no-cost contraceptives, according to a memo the White House sent to reporters Sunday.
The federal health department also announced a new team dedicated to enforcing its interpretation of a law, known as the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, or EMTALA, which the Biden administration has said requires hospitals to provide emergency abortions nationwide, including in the 21 states where the procedure is limited or banned.
EMTALA is the law Filopic thinks doesn’t go far enough; anti-abortion groups in Texas are already pushing back in court. Fair enough. But her column may have been premature. Biden, she writes, must “not just pledge to make abortion rights the top priority of his second term but … make them a top priority in this election and in his administration right now.”
Biden answers (The Post again):
Meanwhile, Biden on Monday is expected to convene two dozen senior officials in the White House for a meeting of his reproductive health task force, where he will be joined by several physicians who have practiced in states with abortion bans. Vice President Harris is slated to kick off a multistate reproductive rights tour with a visit to Wisconsin, where she is expected to criticize a proposal by state Republicans to ban abortion after 14 weeks of pregnancy. Wisconsin’s Democratic governor has already said he will veto the bill.
“On this day and every day, Vice President Harris and I are fighting to protect women’s reproductive freedom against Republicans’ dangerous, extreme, and out-of-touch agenda,” Biden said in a statement.
The Biden administration’s actions — coming on what would have been the 51st anniversary of the landmark ruling in Roe v. Wade, before the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion in 2022 — reflect Democrats’ ongoing effort to highlight an issue that gives them a strong political advantage. Fifty-eight percent of all voters, including about 1 in 5 Republicans, said they trust Democrats more than Republicans on abortion, according to a November poll conducted by KFF, a health policy organization.
Still, an “anniversary” press event is not enough to drive home the point that restoring abortion rights is central to Biden’s reelection campaign. The campaign’s messaging effort has to be sustained and part of every event. Paint the beautiful tomorrow. Lather, rinse, repeat. “Tell ’em what you’re going to tell ’em; then tell ’em; then tell ’em what you told ’em.” The truth, if it’s to set voters free, must be shouted.
Biden was in North Carolina last week touting his administration’s infrastructure spending putting “shovels in the ground, cranes in the sky, and people hard at work on these projects.” Terrific. Yet there was no reference to women or women’s rights in his remarks. Yes, campaigns like to build events around themes. But women’s rights are not a theme if they’re not ever-present. Always Be Closing.