Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 2, 2021 / 10:15 am
President Joe Biden on Thursday announced a “whole-of-government” response to “ensure” abortion access in Texas, after the state’s pro-life law went into effect on Wednesday.
In a Thursday statement, the president – a Catholic – directed his administration to examine “what steps the Federal Government can take to ensure that women in Texas have access to safe and legal abortions.”
On Wednesday, Sept. 1, the “Texas Heartbeat Act” went into effect. The law prohibits abortions in the state after the detection of a fetal heartbeat – which can occur as early as six weeks into pregnancy. It can be enforced by private lawsuits. The law went into effect Wednesday, after the Supreme Court had not yet acted on a petition to block it.
Late Wednesday night, the court ultimately rejected the petition to block the law in a 5-4 decision. Biden denounced the decision as “an unprecedented assault on a woman’s constitutional rights” to abortion.