According to a fact sheet released by the White House before Biden signed the order, it focuses on four areas:
- safeguarding access to abortion
- protecting the privacy of women who have abortions
- promoting the safety and security of abortionists and their patients
- coordinating federal efforts to protect abortion rights and abortion access
The executive order directs the HHS to protect and expand access to contraception and abortion; especially abortion-inducing drugs. It also calls for a meeting of private pro bono lawyers to represent women seeking abortions.
Biden, in a statement to the press before signing the executive order, called the Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision, "terrible, extreme, and... totally wrong-headed."
The Supreme Court decision ruled that the Constitution does not take a stance on the legality of abortion, thereby returning the right to regulate the issue to the states. This allows states to protect the lives of innocent unborn children who could otherwise be wrongfully killed through the act of abortion. Such actions are not "terrible" or "extreme." They are the recognition that all humans, even the unborn, have rights that must be protected
