US President Joe Biden, who is under pressure to toughen his defense of access to abortion, will sign an executive order on Friday introducing new but limited measures to strengthen women’s reproductive rights.
Biden has been criticized by his own Democratic Party for his perceived inaction since the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling late last month that resulted in nationwide abortion.
Biden will sign an executive order aimed at “protecting patient privacy, including through the transfer and sale of sensitive health-related information (and) combating digital surveillance associated with reproductive health services,” the White House said.
The President’s hands are largely tied on the hot issue, as some Conservative-led states have already banned or severely restricted abortion after the Supreme Court overturned the right to abortion established 50 years ago in the Roe v Wade ruling.
Biden’s order also aims to protect mobile clinics stationed at the borders of states that have banned abortion, guarantee access to contraceptives and abortion drugs, and establish a network of volunteer attorneys, the White House said.
When the ruling was released, Biden called it a “tragic mistake” and announced two sets of regulations: on access to abortion pills and on women’s right to travel to another state for an abortion if their own state bans the procedure.
But Biden has been largely silent on the divisive issue since then.
Members of his own party have criticized Biden, urging more aggressive action, or at least a more assertive stance, on protecting access to abortion.
Biden will respond Friday with a speech on the latest measures, beginning with a promise to protect women’s sensitive health information and fight digital surveillance, the White House said.
Advocacy groups are warning of the risks posed by women’s online data, such as their location, and apps that monitor their menstrual cycles, which they say could be used to track women after abortions.
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