President Joe Biden is considering declaring abortion as a public health emergency after the U.S. Supreme Court Dobbs decision that overturned 1973's Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.
Axios reported Tuesday that Biden is mulling over a plan submitted in a July 2022 letter by 83 Congressional Democrats urging him and Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to declare access to abortion a public health emergency under the Stafford Act.
"The Supreme Court's radical and dangerous decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization has precipitated a full-scale reproductive health crisis across our nation. It has also plunged our health system into a state of uncertainty and upheaval that threatens patients' lives," the letter read, in part.
The high court overturned the Roe decision in June, sending the issue back to the states.
That ruling triggered laws in more than a dozen states that further restricted or banned abortions.
Axios reported that Becerra said the administration is considering a variety of measures, including an evaluation of declaring the issue a public health emergency.
"There are discussions on a wide range of measures ... that we can take to try to protect people's rights," Becerra said, according to Axios. "There are certain criteria that you look for to be able to declare a public health emergency. That's typically done by scientists, and those that are professionals in those fields who will tell us whether we are in a state of emergency and based on that, I have the ability to make a declaration."
White House Gender Policy Council Director Jen Klein told reporters in July that a public health emergency declaration would not be a "great option."
"When we looked at the public health emergency, we learned a couple things," Klein said at the time. "One is that it doesn't free very many resources. It's what's in the public health emergency fund, and there's very little money — tens of thousands of dollars in it. So that didn't seem like a great option. And it also doesn't release a significant amount of legal authority. And so that's why we haven't taken that action yet."
University of California at Davis law professor Mary Ziegler told Axios that the declaration and accompanying funding could provide some relief for access to abortions.
"[The declaration] would potentially make it easier for people who need to travel out-of-state to get abortions or to get abortion medication," Ziegler told Axios. "It would make available funding that wouldn't otherwise be there to address those unmet needs."
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.