Already better than nothing. President Joe Biden (finally) breaks his silence and decides to take action to thwart the US Supreme Court’s decision to end the constitutional right to abortion.
With a strong speech on the need for a massive electoral mobilization in the next legislative elections against an “out of control” Supreme Court and the “extreme” projects of the Republicans, the latter signed a decree on Friday comprising a whole series of initiatives.
“The Fastest Way”
“For the love of God, there is an election in November, vote, vote, vote,” the American president asked at the White House. Clearly, he demanded a strong Democratic parliamentary majority, which he does not have today. “It’s the fastest way” to restore the right to abortion across the country, via federal law, he said, in this second speech since the highest American court blasted the 24 June the jurisprudence which, since 1973, protected the right to abortion throughout the United States.
If the Republican Party won these mid-term elections in November, and instead voted for a law banning abortion across the country, and no longer just in conservative states, Joe Biden has promised to veto it. Many Democrats and activists believe Joe Biden and his administration should take more dramatic action. Or failing that, to be more politically aggressive, which the 79-year-old Democrat, a moderate who is reluctant to show off.
policy exercise
He unleashed his punches on an “out of control” Supreme Court and said its decision on abortion was “not a constitutional judgment, but an exercise in brute political force.” He also castigated the “radical” positions of the Republican Party. “Now is the time … to protect the nation from an extremist project”, which could also call into question the right to contraception or marriage for all, said Joe Biden.
On the day of the decision, Joe Biden castigated a “tragic error”, and announced two sets of regulatory measures, on access to abortion pills and on the right of women to travel to other states if they wish to use an abortion. But since then, the Democrat of 79 has remained more or less silent on the subject, attracting ever more virulent criticism from his own camp, the Democratic Party, which would like more spectacular actions or, failing that, more aggressive communication.
Online data protection and access to contraception
Among these measures, the promise to “protect sensitive health information” and “combat digital surveillance”, according to the press release from the American executive. Indeed, many activists warn of the dangers linked to online data, such as geolocation or information collected by applications for monitoring menstrual cycles, which could be exploited to prosecute women who have had an abortion.
The text signed by Joe Biden also promises, but without giving practical details, to protect mobile clinics practicing abortion at the external borders of states that have banned it. The White House also wants to guarantee access to contraception, in particular the morning after pill and IUDs.
The US executive finally intends to organize a network of volunteer lawyers to guarantee that American women can travel within the United States if they decide to have an abortion, and this without being disturbed by the justice system if they live in a State prohibiting abortion.
What litters?
Will this attempt at electoral mobilization by Joe Biden succeed, coming from an unpopular president, and while galloping inflation is the biggest concern of households? Shortly after Joe Biden’s speech, Jen Klein, adviser in charge of issues related to abortion, had a complicated time during the daily White House briefing.
“We have taken an important step today and we continue to examine all options that would be legally relevant,” she said. But she struggled to explain the concrete scope of the decree signed on Friday, and to justify that the text comes two weeks after the decision of the Supreme Court, yet predictable since a draft had leaked in the press before.
The Women’s March organization, which wants to demonstrate on Sunday in front of the White House, reacted very coldly to Friday’s announcements. These are “necessary first steps but they are far from enough. (…) I call on the administration to realize the urgency. Be creative! said Rachel O’Leary Carmona, executive director of the association.
The boss of the House of Representatives and figure of the Democratic camp Nancy Pelosi has promised to vote next week on two pieces of legislation: one to enshrine a right to federal abortion and the other to protect women who leave their state to have an abortion. But these texts will never see the light of day, for lack of a strong enough parliamentary majority.