More than 20 Senate Democrats signed a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to issue executive action protecting abortion access in the wake of the leaked draft opinion from the United States Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.
The letter, led by pro-abortion Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), urged Biden to expand medication abortion, provide resources to women crossing state lines to obtain an abortion, appointing a reproductive health ombudsman at the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), among other things.
“Abortion access is under attack in the United States and already completely eliminated in swaths of the country. After decades of activism by Republican extremists, the Supreme Court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, reversing nearly 50 years of settled law and eviscerating the right to a legal abortion,” the letter states.
“Americans across the nation and at every level of government must stand up against this unprecedented assault on women and their right to make decisions about their own bodies and lives. But as President of the United States, you have the unique power to marshal the resources of the entire federal government to respond,” it adds.
Democrats have been working to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA) to codify the precedents established by Roe v. Wade into federal law, undermining pro-life laws enacted at the state level. Pro-life
“As extremist judges and Republican politicians intensify their efforts to strip Americans of their basic reproductive freedoms, you can demonstrate to the country and women everywhere that you will do everything in your power to fight back,” the letter continues.
The leaked opinion is from the Supreme Court case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which surrounds a 15-week abortion ban in Mississippi. In the event of a Roe overturn, it would turn the issue back to the states. Several states have “trigger” laws that would restrict abortion immediately.
“Americans across the country are at risk of losing their fundamental rights, including their constitutional right to abortion protected for generations. They deserve no less than a whole-of-government response,” the letter concludes.
The letter was signed by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI), Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sen. Edward Markey (D-MA), Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN), Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT), Sen. Christopher Murphy (D-CT), Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI, Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA), Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Sen. Sharrod Brown (D-OH), Sen. Jeffrey Merkley (D-OR), Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH).
Since the leak of the draft opinion, several pro-life pregnancy centers have been targeted in attacks by pro-abortion organizations, as Townhall has covered. This week, a pro-life pregnancy center in upstate New York was allegedly firebombed. One of the center’s operators believes that pro-abortion extremists were behind it.