Joe Biden signed a pro-abortion executive order Friday in an attempt to appease the far-left. The extreme wing of his party has been calling for action from the president since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June. To the dismay of Biden and the abortion industry, this order will not allow abortions to resume in Texas.
Biden’s executive order is largely ineffectual. Most of the proposition focuses on ensuring access to emergency medical care, contraception, abortion information, and recruiting lawyers to defend individuals who legally commit abortion if they are prosecuted. Though some of these actions might target the Culture of Life, they will not change the legitimacy of the pre-Roe statutes or the Texas trigger ban.
If this order is to have any real impact, it will come in the administration’s next steps, particularly regarding mail-order abortions. Biden’s executive order instructs the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to “protect access to medication abortion” and report to him in 30 days. However, this still would not stop Texas from protecting preborn children. Laws passed by Congress can override state law, but regulations from federal agencies largely do not without direct affirmation from Congress, a principle recently echoed by the Supreme Court’s EPA ruling. Because of our strong Pro-Life laws, we are well-situated to withstand any executive branch attempts to overreach in expanding access to deadly abortion-inducing drugs.
To the disappointment of progressives, the Biden administration rejected leftists’ more radical demands thus far, including calls to pack the Supreme Court and to establish abortion facilities on federal lands in Pro-Life states. Abortion supporters, including Joe Biden, hope to abolish the Senate filibuster to pass a federal law that would force every state to allow unlimited abortion up to the moment of birth.
Texas Right to Life will continue fighting to protect all innocent human Life, ensure our Pro-Life laws are fully enforced, including against executive overreach, and to build a fully Pro-Life state where women and their preborn children flourish. Pregnant women and new mothers can find free help in their communities at TexasPregnancy.org.