On Tuesday, the Department of Justice announced the creation of a new Reproductive Rights Task Force. The announcement comes after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey late last month.
According to a press release from the DOJ, Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta will chair the task force. It will “work with agencies across the federal government to support their work on issues relating to reproductive rights and access to reproductive healthcare.” It will include members from the Civil Rights Division, U.S. attorney community, Office of the Solicitor General, Office of the Attorney General, among others.
In a statement, Gupta said that the Supreme Court’s decision in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization is a “devastating blow to reproductive freedom.”
“The Court abandoned 50 years of precedent and took away the constitutional right to abortion, preventing women all over the country from being able to make critical decisions about our bodies, our health, and our futures. The Justice Department is committed to protecting access to reproductive services,” she said in the statement.
The Task Force will work with abortion providers, advocates, state attorneys general, as well as private pro bono attorneys, bar associations and public interest organizations to encourage them to represent patients and providers seeking abortions throughout the country. In addition, it will “coordinate providing technical assistance to Congress in connection with federal legislation to codify reproductive rights.”
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One piece of legislation, the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA), is being pushed by pro-abortion Democrats to codify Roe into federal law.
Shortly after the SCOTUS struck down Roe, Townhall reported how the Biden administration unveiled a new website, ReproductiveRights.gov, to direct women to services providing abortion and contraceptives, including for minors.
One resource ReproductiveRights.gov pointed to is a website called AbortionFinder.org. AbortionFinder.org helps women, even those 15 and younger, obtain a surgical or medication abortion. Women under age 18 are directed to a separate website, Repro Legal Helpline, which gives them resources to obtain a judicial bypass to get an abortion without parental consent or notification. In addition, Repro Legal Helpline directs minors to get their abortions funded by utilizing the National Network of Abortion Funds.
Pro-abortion Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement after Roe fell that abortion is “a right that has safeguarded women’s ability to participate fully and equally in society.” He promoted the use of medication abortion pills, which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration allowed to be available by mail without an in-person visit with a doctor.
“The ability to decide one’s own future is a fundamental American value, and few decisions are more significant and personal than the choice of whether and when to have children,” Garland said. “The Justice Department will use every tool at our disposal to protect reproductive freedom.”
Pro-abortion Democrats are working tirelessly to promote abortion access. This week and next week, Democrats in the House and Senate have five hearings scheduled on abortion policy. In a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing this week, a pro-abortion law professor accused GOP Sen. Josh Hawley (MO) of being "transphobic" to suggest only women can get pregnant.
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