Biden Asks FDA To Expand Abortion Pill Access

By Hudson Crozier

What’s happening: On the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade on Sunday, President Joe Biden ordered the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services, and other agencies to expand access to the abortion-inducing drugs mifepristone and misoprostol—even in states that have banned them.

Why it matters: Abortion pills have become the subject of multiple legal disputes against the federal government, but Biden has shown no signs of stopping his fight against state restrictions. It’s part of a larger effort by one of the most pro-abortion administrations in U.S. history.

Since taking office, Biden rapidly expanded taxpayer funding for abortion domestically and abroad. His Department of Justice (DOJ) took an openly political stance against the “devastating” Dobbs v. Jackson decision and responded with a crackdown on pro-life protesters. The DOJ has also taken multiple states to court over their abortion bans and promised to be “very active in monitoring” state legislatures in 2023.

How did we get here? During his years in the Senate, Biden and other Democrats argued that abortion should be “rare.” Biden also voted for a measure that would have allowed states to overturn Roe v. Wade in 1982. Despite expectations that he would be a “moderate” president on hot-button issues, his current stance reflects the same radical shift the rest of his party has taken in recent years.