By Dave Andrusko
How’s this for a twist? Or coincidence? ABC News ran a story this morning under the headline “Biden’s efforts to protect abortion access hit roadblocks.” Well, it isn’t for lack of trying (see below).
At the same time Lauretta Brown tells us “Five Ways the Biden Administration Is Attempting to Expand Abortion.” Whereas the first story is a thinly disguised pro-abortion piece, the second appears in the National Catholic Register.
So, what are the “roadblocks”? Amanda Seitz and Colleen Long begin with the setting:
Looking to seize on momentum following a midterm election where voters widely rebuked tougher abortion restrictions, there’s a renewed push at the White House to find ways to help women in states that have virtually outlawed or limited the treatment, and to keep the issue top of mind for voters.
In reality, though, the administration is shackled by a ban on federal funding for most abortions, a conservative-leaning Supreme Court inclined to rule against abortion rights and a split Congress unwilling to pass legislation on the matter.
Having declared their tale of woe, much of the rest of their story outlines how “creative” the pro-abortion Biden administration has been and will be in “safeguarding rights and helping women access care.” For example, according to Kathleen Sebelius, a former U.S. health and human services secretary,
HHS might look to wield its power around federal protections for health care providers, life-saving abortions, abortion pills and travel for women in abortion-restricted states, she said.
“It’s amazing how broad a lot of the agency’s authorities are and how much creative thinking can go on,” Sebelius said.
And
*“Attorney General Merrick Garland has said he would protect the right for women to travel between states for medical care.”
*“Veterans and their beneficiaries are [told they will be]able to access abortion, even in states that have outlawed it, through the Department of Veteran Affairs in cases where the woman’s life or health is at risk or in cases of rape or incest. The Defense Department will cover leave and travel costs for troops seeking abortions if they are not available in their state.”
* “Perhaps most consequentially, the Department of Health and Human Services told hospitals they ‘must’ provide abortions if a mother’s life is at risk. The agency cited federal law, called the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, or EMTALA that requires medical facilities to provide treatment if a person may be in labor or faces an emergency health situation.”
Brown in her “Five Ways the Biden Administration Is Attempting to Expand Abortion” highlights some of the same activities. For example, the position taken by the Department of Veteran Affairs; “EMTALA Reinterpretation”; and “abortion travel policies.”
Brown’s fifth is “Abortion Pill Access”– where “abortion advocates are pushing for the Biden administration to act to use the FDA’s regulation of the abortion pill mifepristone to override state law.” There will be stiff pushback by states that mandate that women see the abortionist in person, rather than getting them in the mail.
Both stories tell us what we know, or should know. The Biden administration will move heaven and earth to expedite the killing of unborn children.