US President Joe Biden has signed an executive order designed to protect millions of American women's access to abortion in states where the procedure remains legal.
In an address at the White House, Mr Biden condemned the Supreme Court majority that ended a constitutional right to abortion and delivered an impassioned plea for Americans upset by the decision to vote in November's midterm elections.
The actions the President outlined are intended to head off some potential penalties that women seeking abortion may face after the ruling overturning Roe v Wade, but his order cannot restore access to abortion in the more than a dozen states where strict limits or total bans have gone into effect.
About a dozen more states are set to impose additional restrictions.
Mr Biden's action formalised instructions to the departments of justice and health and human services to push back against efforts to limit the ability of women to access federally approved abortion medication or to travel across state lines to access clinical abortion services.
His executive order also directs agencies to work to educate medical providers and insurers about how and when they are required to share privileged patient information with authorities — an effort to protect women who seek or obtain abortion services.
He is also asking the Federal Trade Commission to take steps to protect the privacy of those seeking information about reproductive care online and establish a task force to coordinate federal efforts to safeguard access to abortion.
The President is also directing his staff to line up volunteer lawyers to provide women and providers with pro bono legal assistance to help them navigate new state restrictions.
He acknowledged the limitations facing his office, saying it would require an act of congress to restore nationwide access to the way it was before the June 24 decision.
"The fastest way to restore Roe is to pass a national law," Mr Biden said.
Biden says 10yo rape victim's experience 'not some imagined horror'
During his address, Mr Biden spoke emotionally of a 10-year-old Ohio girl reported to have been forced to travel out of state to terminate a pregnancy after being raped, noting that some states had instituted abortion bans that do not have exceptions for cases of rape or incest.
"A 10-year- old should be forced to give birth to a rapist's child?" an incredulous Mr Biden nearly shouted.
He said the abortion potentially saved her life and asked those in the room to imagine being "that little girl".
"Does anyone believe that the majority view is that should not be able to be dealt with?"
"This isn't some imagined horror," he said.
"It's already happening … I can't think of anything more extreme."
Amid criticism, Mr Biden says 'vote'
Mr Biden's executive order comes as he faces criticism from some in his own party for not acting more urgently to protect women's access to abortion.
But since the Supreme Court's decision, the President has stressed that his ability to protect abortion rights by executive action is limited without congressional action, and that Democrats do not have the votes in the current Congress to do so.
"We need two additional pro-choice senators and a pro-choice house to codify Roe," he said.
In an impassioned plea, he urged upset Americans to vote in November.
"The fastest way to restore Roe is to pass a national law," Mr Biden said.
"Your vote can make that a reality."
Mr Biden for the first time last week announced his support for changing Senate rules to allow a measure to restore nationwide access to abortion to pass by simple majority, rather than the usual 60-vote threshold required to end a filibuster.
Order described as important yet underwhelming first step
NARAL Pro-Choice America president Mini Timmaraju called Mr Biden's order "an important first step in restoring the rights taken from millions of Americans by the Supreme Court."
But Lawrence Gostin, who runs the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health at Georgetown Law, described Mr Biden's plans as "underwhelming."
"There's nothing that I saw that would affect the lives of ordinary poor women living in red states," he said.
Mr Gostin encouraged Mr Biden to take a more forceful approach toward ensuring access to medication abortion across the country and said Medicaid should consider covering transportation for people travelling interstate for an abortion.
AP/ABC
