Dear John,
This has been a week of much-needed victories on the abortion rights front. In Tuesday’s primary, Kansans voted overwhelmingly to defeat a proposed amendment that would have allowed the Republican dominated state legislature to ban or severely restrict access to abortion in the state. The election saw an extraordinarily high turnout for a midterm primary—indicating that abortion will be mobilizing issue in November’s midterm elections, despite what so many political pundits have forecast.
And on Wednesday, President Biden signed a second executive order on reproductive rights. The order directs the department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to ensure that access to medication abortion is protected and preserved, and explore the possibility of using Medicaid funds to cover travel to other states for medical care. The order also moves to protect access to contraception, and ensures that the right to emergency care is provided according to the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), a federal law that requires emergency treatment for anyone who comes to an emergency department. When it comes to abortion, EMTALA ensures that those experiencing pregnancy-related medical emergencies like miscarriages or ectopic pregnancies can access abortion care no matter what state law says.
EMTALA has come into question in some states in the wake of Dobbs. Just last month, one Texas woman was forced to endure infection and illness because her hospital refused to perform an abortion—even though the hospital knew the pregnancy was not viable. The situation was a direct result of Texas’s six-week abortion ban. While the state of Texas filed a lawsuit challenging the HHS guidance, which preempts the ban, the DOJ is fighting back in court. The DOJ has also moved to sue the state of Idaho over their abortion ban, which they say conflicts with EMTALA as well.
The President’s executive order also touches upon the issue of patient privacy, ordering the Federal Trade Commission and HHS to take steps towards ensuring that patients’ private information is not revealed, and stresses the importance of protecting clinics and providers from threats.
Finally, the order creates an interagency Task Force on Reproductive Health Care Access, which going forward will coordinate policymaking and program development on reproductive health and rights.
Make no mistake: reproductive rights supporters and advocates will not give up the fight for abortion rights, whether at work in the halls of power, in the streets—or at the ballot box!
