Murray, Warren Lead Over 20 Senators Urging President Biden to Issue Executive Order to Defend Americans’ Right to an Abortion

“As extremist judges and Republican politicians intensify their efforts to strip Americans of their basic reproductive freedoms, you can demonstrate to the country and women everywhere that you will do everything in your power to fight back.”

“We urge you to immediately issue an executive order instructing the leaders of every federal agency to submit their plans to protect the right to an abortion within 30 days. Americans across the country are at risk of losing their fundamental rights, including their constitutional right to abortion protected for generations. They deserve no less than a whole-of-government response.”

Text of Letter (pdf)

Washington, D.C. – United States Senators Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) led 23 of their Senate colleagues in a letter to President Biden urging him to immediately issue an executive order directing the federal government to develop a national plan to defend Americans’ fundamental reproductive rights, including their right to an abortion.

The letter was also signed by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.); Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.); Cory Booker (D-N.J.); Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio); Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.); Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.); Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.); Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.); Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.); Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.); Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.); Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.); Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.); Christopher Murphy (D-Conn.); Alex Padilla (D-Calif.); Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.); Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.); Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii); Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.); Tina Smith (D-Minn.); Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.); Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.); and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).

“This is an all-hands-on-deck moment to protect abortion rights. With the Supreme Court likely to overturn Roe v. Wade any day now—fulfilling Republicans’ radical, decades-long push to ban abortion—we need an all of government plan to protect every American’s reproductive rights,” said Senator Murray. “I pushed the Biden Administration for a plan last month at a hearing, and now I’m demanding that they step up to the plate: with Republicans continuing their nonstop attacks on the right to abortion, access to birth control, IVF, and so much more, Democrats must fight back with every lever we have to get women the care they need.”

“Democrats need to use every tool at their disposal to protect women and their constitutional right to an abortion. President Biden’s executive authority to marshall the resources of the entire federal government is one of our most powerful tools. With an extremist Supreme Court poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, now is the time to act,” said Senator Warren. 

After decades of activism by Republican extremists, the Supreme Court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, reversing nearly 50 years of settled law and eviscerating the right to a legal abortion. Anti-abortion violence is on the rise, with assaults and threats of harm against abortion providers more than doubling between 2016 and 2020. Anti-abortion politicians have introduced nearly 550 abortion restrictions in 42 states and passed radical laws completely banning abortion and placing bounties on providers offering medical services. And if Roe v. Wade is gutted by this right-wing Supreme Court, Republican leaders have already signaled their next move: a nationwide ban on abortion in all 50 states.

President Biden has previously mobilized the full force of the federal government on behalf of several key Administration priorities such as racial justice, voting rights, and competition. In the letter, the lawmakers urge the President to act with equal boldness and urgency to protect the right to an abortion. In particular, the lawmakers suggest the following actions for the President’s consideration: 

1. Increasing access to medication abortion. Federal agencies could take steps to increase the accessibility of medication abortion and ensure the wide availability of accurate information about medication abortion.

1. Providing resources for individuals seeking abortion care in other states. Federal agencies could explore opportunities to provide vouchers for travel, child care services, and other forms of support for individuals seeking to access abortion care that is unavailable in their home state.

1. Establishing a reproductive health ombudsman at the Department of Health and Humans Services (HHS). A new ombudsman could educate the public and analyze data collected by HHS about access to reproductive services. For example, this office could gather information about insurers’ coverage of reproductive health services (such as contraception); disseminate information about how individuals could connect with Title X clinics, reproductive health clinics, and abortion funds; and provide the public with safety information related to self-managed abortions outside formal medical settings.

1. Enforcing “Free Choice of Provider” requirements. HHS could explore more aggressively enforcing federal requirements that guarantee Medicaid beneficiaries have the ability to seek family planning services from their provider of choice.

1. Clarifying protections for sensitive health and location data. HHS’s Office for Civil Rights could clarify how websites or mobile applications that collect information related to reproductive health (such as period trackers) should protect personally identifiable information and other sensitive data, especially given the risks presented by the sale of this data in states that criminalize reproductive decision-making.

1. Using federal property and resources to increase access to abortion. The Department of Justice and all relevant agencies could analyze the types of reproductive health services that could be provided on federal property, especially in states where such services are limited by state law or regulation. The Department of Defense could assess the feasibility of moving military personnel and their families and any authority to ensure that members and their families can access reproductive health care when they need it. The Office of Personnel Management could explore requirements that all federal employees are provided paid time off and reimbursement for expenses necessary to access abortion. And all federal agencies—including those who retain custody or control over individuals or provide healthcare to them—could conduct a review of their regulations and policies that limit abortion care and other reproductive health services and promulgate new regulations that expand access to those services.

“These proposals are only starting points in a federal apparatus that affects millions of Americans every day. The entirety of the federal government must be engaged in the Administration’s efforts and must act as swiftly as possible,” the lawmakers continued.

Senator Murray has long been a leader in Congress in the fight to protect and expand access to reproductive health care and abortion rights. Since the Supreme Court agreed to hear Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Senator Murray has vowed to fight back and protect Roe v. Wade and everyone’s reproductive rights—including by building support and fighting to hold a vote on the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would protect the right to abortion nationwide. Since the leaked decision revealed that the Supreme Court was planning to overturn Roe, Senator Murray has been a leader in the Senate pushing back: immediately calling the decision a “five alarm fire,” pushing for a vote on WHPA so every Republican Senator was forced to show the American public where they stood, pushing the Biden Administration for federal action in the immediate aftermath of the leaked decision, and leading her colleagues in the fight to protect everyone’s reproductive rights.

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