Biden is expected to sign the executive order during the inaugural meeting of the administration’s newly formed Task Force on Access to Reproductive Health Care, a task force made up of representatives from multiple departments across the federal government. Cabinet members are also expected to brief the president on steps their respective agencies have taken “to defend reproductive rights” at Wednesday’s meeting, an administration official told reporters on Tuesday.
Wednesday’s executive order directs Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to consider “all appropriate actions to ensure that health care providers comply with federal nondiscrimination laws so that women receive necessary medical care without delay.” , including measures to provide health care providers with technical and legal guidance amid the patchwork of state legal restrictions on abortion care following the Supreme Court ruling.
The executive order further directs HHS to expand research efforts on maternal health data “to accurately measure the impact that reduced access to reproductive health care services has on women’s health,” the official said Tuesday.
Ultimately, however, there is no action the President can take to restore a nationwide right to abortion, and Biden has publicly acknowledged that his options for expanding abortion access remain limited.
