More than 400 health care providers called on the Biden administration to “actively and unequivocally” support an abortion rights policy that goes beyond the Roe v. Wade ruling and restores access to abortions in later stages of pregnancy.
The advocacy group Physicians for Reproductive Health, along with 430 physicians working in sexual and reproductive health, sent a letter to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday urging them to improve abortion and gender reassignment care.
Since the Supreme Court struck down federal abortion protections in 2022, Biden has consistently supported restoring Roe, which protected access to abortion at the federal level up to about 24 weeks. But many abortion rights advocates say Roe was fundamentally flawed because it allowed targeted restrictions on abortion providers that curtailed access even where it was legal and excluded people who needed abortion care beyond fetal viability.
“Although Roe provided a constitutional right to abortion, it never ensured that this right was available to all people who need it,” said the letter, shared exclusively with HuffPost. “The promise of Roe, the legal right to abortion care, was never fulfilled.”
When Roe was still intact, pregnant women regularly had to travel across state borders to receive medical care later in pregnancy, and hundreds were criminalized because of their pregnancy results. More than 1,300 abortion restrictionsor TRAP laws, were enacted in the years following the Roe decision in 1973. These laws forced many abortion clinics to close and created a dynamic in which abortion care was legal at the federal level but inaccessible in many parts of the country.
“We call on the administration and lawmakers across the country to expand their efforts to go beyond the scope of Roe and speak boldly and bravely about the future our patients deserve,” the letter says. “We ask that you commit to policy solutions that do not seek to return us to the narrow protections Roe created. We deserve so much more. Our patients deserve so much more.”
Pro-abortion advocates have repeated criticized the president – who ran for a second term Restore Roe Platform before he left the campaign – for not be more aggressive on abortion rights. Almost half the country has effectively criminalized abortion care since the Supreme Court struck down federal protections and the president still find it difficult to pronounce the word “abortion.” Some supporters were optimistic when Harris was named the Democratic presidential candidate, pointing out that she much louder about their support for abortion rightsbut recent reports suggest that they also try to restore Roe if selected.
The health care provider group also called on Biden and Harris to support access to gender-equitable care for young people and adults. The providers criticized the president’s recent statement opposing care for minors, writing that comments like his are “dangerous” and “reinforce resistance to this essential care.”
Similarly, the letter’s signatories called on Biden to stop using language that stigmatizes late-term abortion. About 1% of abortions occur at 21 weeks or later – a small percentage that Democrats often point to – but 1% is still around 9,000 people who have a late-term abortion each year. People have late-term abortions for a variety of reasons, including people with a wanted pregnancy who receive a fatal fetal diagnosis, or young people who do not know they are pregnant or who do not have a safe way to have an abortion immediately. Since Roe, more and more women are being pushed into later pregnancy because they experience barriers to medical care at the beginning.
“Comprehensive reproductive and gender-affirming health care is not only an essential, life-saving service, but a fundamental human right,” Dr. Jamila Perritt, president and CEO of Physicians for Reproductive Health, who also works as an OB-GYN in Washington, DC, said in a statement to HuffPost.
“Today, we call for bold and courageous solutions that support people to get the care they need without stigma, delays and barriers,” Perritt added. “As providers, it is our responsibility to offer compassionate health care and evidence-based advocacy, support our patients to the best of our ability, and ultimately build a future where everyone can thrive. I hope this letter leads to change in our current legislative landscape and centers the humanity and dignity of those on the fringes of oppression.”
Read the full letter to Biden and Harris below: