The President of the United States, Joe Biden, announced on Sunday the implementation of a series of measures to facilitate access to medication for women seeking abortions, as well as new guarantees of protection for pharmacies that sell this medication, the president said in a statement issued on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade ruling.
The 1973 ruling, overturned last year by the Supreme Court in a highly controversial decision, has been the touchstone of U.S. abortion law since its declaration. Its overruling meant the repeal of abortion as a constitutional right and legislation is now left to the individual states.
However, the U.S. federal government enjoys certain powers such as those used this Sunday by Biden, who has ordered the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a new guide to support providers and pharmacies in distributing to patients the medications they need.
Similarly, the presidential memorandum also orders the implementation of a new guide to ensure safe access to these medications in pharmacies «free from threats and violence.»
The President lamented that the Supreme Court’s decision «takes away a constitutional right from the American people» even though «women should be able to make these deeply personal decisions without political interference.»
«Yet Republicans in Congress and across the country continue to push for a nationwide ban on abortion, to criminalize doctors and nurses, and to make access to birth control more difficult. It’s dangerous, extremist and completely out of touch with reality,» she lamented.
Finally, Biden again called for greenlighting an initiative to codify all of the protections of Roe v. Wade into federal law as «the only way a woman’s right to choose in every state in the country can be guaranteed.»
Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris, speaking from Tallahassee, Florida, called for «determination and dedication» to the «fight» for women’s rights.
«Today we strike back. I am pleased to announce that President Biden has issued a presidential memorandum» by which the federal administration should «identify barriers and recommend actions to ensure that physicians can legally prescribe and dispense safe and effective medication.»
ACTS AND RALLIES Abortion rights organizations have called for more than 200 events in 46 U.S. states this Sunday to mark the 50th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling that enshrined abortion rights at the federal level and was overturned on June 22, 2022.
«I have been demonstrating for over 50 years to move religion and politics away from women’s health care….. Today I am demonstrating for our granddaughters,» reads one of the banners at the Washington rally.
During the march, slogans such as «Our bodies, our choice» and «When abortion rights are attacked, what do we do? Stand up and fight back.
One of the most crowded events was in Madison, Wisconsin, where thousands of people marched under the common slogan used in many of the rallies: «Bigger than Roe».
«I am proud to be in Madison today fighting to let each and every politician know that if they come for our freedom, for our families, for our futures, we will come for you,» said activist Rachel O’Leary Carmona.
Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, abortion has been banned or significantly restricted in 14 states despite the fact that 3 in 5 Americans believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases, according to an Ipsos poll released by NPR public radio.
The poll reveals that 62 percent believe the overturning of Roe v. Wade is based «more on politics than law» and 60 percent believe the 1973 ruling was correct.
As for abortion itself, 26 percent believe it should be legal in all cases and 34 percent believe it should be legal in most cases. Twenty-eight percent believe it should be illegal in most cases and 9 percent that it should be illegal in all cases.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
