Biden on Reproductive Rights: ‘We’re Not Going To Sit By and Let Republicans Throughout the Country Enact Extreme Policies’
Contraception also now increasingly at-risk on campuses
President Biden warned the nation anew this week, not only about the direct fallout from the decision earlier this year by the US Supreme Court to overturn Roe v Wade and upend nearly a half century of guaranteed national abortion rights — but increasingly the indirect fallout which puts at jeopardy access to contraception and even other medications.
The president and other high-ranking administration officials spoke out Tuesday at the second meeting of the Task Force on Reproductive Healthcare Access at the White House.
Biden lamented how scary and ridiculous it is that a child cannot get access to a medication which she needs to control her rheumatoid arthritis over concerns that the same prescription could be used to terminate a pregnancy.
“This 14-year-old girl couldn’t get the medicine she needed for arthritis because of an extreme, backward, and misguided law,” he said. “Now, officials at the University of Idaho said it should stop providing contraception, as was mentioned by the vice president. In fact, they told university staff that they could get in trouble just for talking or telling students about where they get birth control.
“Folks, what century are we in? I mean, what are we doing? I respect everyone’s view on this, personal decisions they make, but my lord, we’re talking about contraception here. It shouldn’t be that controversial,” Biden added. “But that’s — this is what it looks like, when you start to take away the right of privacy. I’ve asked Education Secretary [Miguel] Cardona to look at the steps we could take to protect college students and school employees in Idaho or other states where the access to contraception is at risk. And my message to any other college considering enacting policies like this — don’t. Please don’t. We’re not going to to sit by and let Republicans throughout the country enact extreme policies, to threaten access to basic health care. And that’s why we are all here today. That’s why we formed this commission.”
Cardona concurred with Biden's view.
“Thank you, Mr. President. I share your grave concerns about maintaining access to contraception and reproductive health services on our college campuses,” he said. “And ensuring there’s accurate, reliable information for students and for educators. Students need access to health care to thrive in school and in life, and that includes reproductive health care.”
Vice President Kamala Harris described just how Draconian these laws are.
“Today, extremist so-called leaders are attacking the freedom and liberty of millions of women. At a state level, in Arizona, for example, a judge recently upheld an 1864 — that’s not a statute, that’s the year — 1864 abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest,” Harris said. “In Wisconsin, as another example, that state activated an abortion ban that was passed in 1849. That’s 173 years ago. And make note that, at that time, women also did not have the right to vote.
“What we are seeing in laws around our country is the criminalization of doctors and healthcare providers. In some situations, up to five to six years in prison would be the penalty,” she added.
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