President Joe Biden is considering declaring a public health emergency in order to expand access to abortion after the Supreme Court legalized the procedure.
Biden asked the U.S. health officials to look into the legality of declaring a public health emergency to protect abortion access. The administration hasn't used these powers yet because they wouldn't bring much more legal or financial power
The public health emergency doesn't free a lot of resources Klein told reporters on Friday that it didn't seem like a great option.
The nation's leading reproductive rights groups want the White House to use all of its power to defend abortion. A public health emergency should be declared by the Biden administration, according to a statement released by the organization.
"We are in a national health crisis, and it's getting worse by the day." The administration should immediately declare a public health emergency because of that.
The administration is under pressure to do more. In a letter this week, more than 80 House Democrats called on Biden and Becerra to use their emergency public health powers to address a full-scale reproductive health crisis.
An HHS spokesman was asked if the agency is considering declaring a public health emergency for abortion.
One of the nation's leading experts on public health law at Arizona State University disagrees with the White House on the issue of abortion rights.
There are certain legal things that could be triggered by a public health emergency.
The administration should protect access to the abortion pill, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights. Mifepristone was approved by the FDA more than 20 years ago as a safe and effective way to end a pregnant woman's baby. The FDA allowed licensed pharmacist to prescribe and send pills by mail.
The Public Health Service Act and the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act can be used to declare a public health emergency. The federal government has used these emergency powers before to respond to Covid-19.
The HHS secretary can issue a declaration that a countermeasure is needed to respond to a disease or other health condition or other threat to health that is a public health emergency. The countermeasure is defined by the Health Secretary. Any state law that is in conflict with the federal declaration would be pre-empted, as well as providing liability protection for health-care providers.
The Supreme Court ruling that reduced access to abortion may pose a threat to the lives of pregnant women. He could use the abortion pill as a countermeasure. It would allow for a way for women in states that ban the pill to have access to it early on in their pregnancies.
The White House can appeal an injunction if it is blocked by a federal court. Countermeasures are interventions that have been approved by the FDA. The pill can be used as a countermeasure, but it might not hold up to judicial scrutiny.
The HHS might have a better case if it defines the abortion drug misoprostol as a countermeasure. According to a memo by the Network for Public Health Law, the FDA has the power to approve off-label use of that drug for early abortions. The World Health Organization says that Misoprostol can be used on its own as a safe way to end a pregnant woman's baby.
Doctors in states where abortion is legal may be able to prescribe the abortion pills across state lines if a public health emergency is declared. Although the FDA currently allows the abortion pill by mail, women in states that have banned the procedure don't have access to it unless they travel to a state that still allows abortion.
The patient's location is the most important factor in determining which state's law applies. A woman in Oklahoma can't get the abortion pill from a provider in a state where the procedure is legal.
Nancy Northup, CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said that it would be important for people in states that ban abortion to be able to get medication abortion from other states.
Many pregnant women will turn to overseas providers if there is no way for them to get the pill in their states. Aid Access will continue to provide consultations and mailing pills to women in states that ban abortion.
Many foreign websites mail the pills without a prescription. Plan C has tested pills from some of these websites and found they were real, but the drugs are not subject to FDA inspection and there is no guarantee that every foreign website will always send genuine medication.
It is against the law to import medication for personal use. In a statement to CNBC, the FDA said it doesn't recommend purchasing mifepristone over the internet because it means patients are circumventing important safeguards.
Lawrence Gostin, an expert on health law at Georgetown University, said that declaring a public health emergency over abortion access would be a mistake. The Supreme Court's decision to allow states to ban abortion will result in the death of pregnant women.
The legal risks of using emergency public health powers in the context of abortion are huge. There will be a lot of lawsuits and the case will likely end up before the Supreme Court.
There is a chance that the judiciary will curb public health emergency powers in the future. This action is fraught with risks. The upsides aren't very significant. Gostin has held discussions with the White House on the use of public health emergency powers for abortion.
It is likely that a conservative judge on a lower federal court will block the implementation of the emergency declaration, which would have no impact on abortion access.
He said that declaring a public health emergency for abortion would put the nation's health agencies in the middle of the nation's culture war over abortion and further polarize public health.
The next Republican in the Oval Office is likely to declare an emergency for the right to life if Biden does this. Gostin said that it was an endless political game.
The legal risks shouldn't stop the federal government from "pushing the boundaries of its emergency powers against the backdrop of sure, definitive implications for morbidity and mortality for women who are pregnant across the U.S."
The PREP Act is the most promising of the emergency powers on the table, according to Gostin.
A public health emergency can be declared by the federal government. The Secretary of HHS has the power to deploy federal medical teams to support abortion clinics and other health-care providers that are expecting a surge of patients from states that have banned the procedure.
Although these teams wouldn't perform abortions because of the Hyde Amendment, they could help provide other reproductive health services. The Hyde Amendment prohibits federal money from being used for abortions.
Secretary Becerra has the final say on it. He doesn't have to declare a public health emergency if he decides to. The disaster teams and federal medical corps can be implemented by him.
According to Rachel Rebouche, an expert on reproductive health law at Temple University, the Biden administration could provide financial assistance and guidance to women who are travelling to states where abortion is legal. In a recent article in Slate, legal experts laid out Biden's options if the Supreme Court overturns the abortion law.
According to Rebouche, the Justice Department could argue that the FDA's approval of the drug pre-empts the state's ban. The idea hasn't been tested in court.
Mississippi's health secretary was sued by GenBioPro in 2020 over state restrictions on how the medication is distributed. The company argued that the FDA approval of Mifepristone was pre-empted by state law. In the wake of the Supreme Court's decision, Mississippi asked the court to dismiss the case, but GenBioPro is amending its complaint in order to continue the litigation.
The FDA's congressionally authorized power as a federal agency pre-empts state laws that seek to restrict the use of the drug.
The Supreme Court ruled that states can't ban the drug because they disagree with the FDA's judgement. The Justice Department will take action against states that ban the abortion pill if they do not allow it.
It is not clear what the Justice Department will do. Most states immediately banned the administration or prescription of abortion pills because they terminated pregnancies, not because of questions about the pill's safety or efficacy.
The right of women to travel to get an abortion is protected by the Justice Department.
President Joe Biden signed an executive order last week ordering the HHS to come up with a plan to protect access to medication abortions. The HHS Office for Civil Rights warned retail pharmacies that they might be in violation of federal civil rights law if they refuse to prescribe abortion medication.
Federal law requires health-care providers to provide abortions in medical emergencies where the life of the patient is in danger. Hospitals that don't provide abortions in medical emergencies could lose their Medicare provider agreements. Texas has asked a court to stop the requirement.
electing more members of Congress who support abortion rights is the only way to protect the rights that have been guaranteed for 50 years, according to Biden. The Democrats in the Senate don't have the votes to pass such a law because of the filibuster rule.
Biden supports making an exception to the rule in order to pass abortion rights legislation, but conservative Democrats are against it.
In the 116 days since the elections, the political winds have been blowing against Democrats in both chambers of congress. Generic polls tend to favor the Republicans in the House, while the Senate is seen as a tossup. The public health crisis created by the end of the abortion law will only get worse in the run up to the elections.
We are going to be in a different emergency threat scenario than the one we are currently in. Emergency public health powers can be used for abortion, but there are risks. The administration is trying to weigh them.
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