On Friday, President Joe Biden railed against a 10-year-old Ohio girl who was compelled to go to another state for an abortion after being raped, using the harrowing tale to urge Democrats to cast ballots in the next election.
Biden shouted louder as he narrated the incident, gripping the platform firmly as he bemoaned the injustice of the circumstance and the suffering the girl must have through.
She felt compelled to come to Indian to try to end the pregnancy and perhaps save her life.
That’s the last component, in my opinion,’ he declared while standing beside Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra and Vice President Kamala Harris in the Roosevelt Room of the White House.
Imagine yourself as that young girl. Imagine being that tiny girl—I’m not kidding. 10 years old! he said while pointing at the camera.
He said, “Should a 10-year-old girl be made to give birth to a rapist’s child?” There aren’t many severe things that come to mind.
The Columbus Dispatch reported that the case gained national attention after it emerged an Ohio doctor who specialized in child abuse asked Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Indianapolis, for assistance in helping a 10-year-old girl obtain an abortion after Ohio outlawed the procedure after six weeks.
The child was six weeks and three days along, making her only three days too far along to be eligible for the operation in her native state.
In his speech, Biden specifically called out the justices of the Supreme Court, claiming they were conspiring with extremist Republicans to limit the liberties of Americans.
President Joe Biden fumed about a 10-year-old girl in Ohio who was forced to go to another state to get an abortion after she was raped, using the dramatic story to make the case for Democrats to vote this November
He reiterated his position that the best course of action was for Congress to enshrine Roe v. Wade into federal law as he was ready to sign an executive order strengthening protections for abortion rights.
Please cast your vote if you want to improve the situation for women and especially young girls in this nation, he said.
The 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which protected a woman’s right to an abortion, was overruled by the Supreme Court in the case known as Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
Biden criticized the Supreme Court’s judgment.
The justices, according to him, are “out of control” and collaborating with “extreme sections of the Republican Party.”
‘This decision affects everyone, unrelated to choose beyond choice. We cannot allow out of control Supreme Court, working in conjunction with extremist elements of the Republican Party, to take away freedoms and our personal autonomy,’ he said.
‘The choice we face as a nation is between the mainstream and the extreme,’ he added.
Even as he prepared to sign an executive order, he expressed his dismay at the limits of his executive power. He called on people – particularly women – to come out in record numbers in November to elect more Democrats to Congress.
‘The only way to fulfill and restore that right for women in this country is by voting, by exercising the power at the ballot box,’ he said. ‘Your vote can make that a reality.’
He acknowledged the frustration and criticism he’s received from some Democrats that he has not been able to do more to protect reproductive rights.
‘Consider the challenge accepted court,’ he said, addressing the Supreme Court directly, ‘but the meantime I’m signing this important executive order.’
‘I know it’s frustrating, and it made a lot of people very angry. But the truth is this – and it’s not just me saying it’s what the court said – when you read the decision, the court has made clear, it will not protect the rights of women. Period. Period,’ he said.
‘The court now practically dares the women of America to go to the ballot box, and restore the very rights they’ve just taken away,’ he noted.
‘The women American can determine the outcome of this issue,’ he added.
He finished by emphasizing – repeatedly – the need to vote this fall.
‘For God’s sake, there’s an election in November: vote, vote, vote, vote,’ he said.
Biden’s executive order will push to safeguard access to abortion medication and emergency contraception and to add more protections for patient privacy.
Biden will also direct the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services to push back on efforts to limit the ability of women to access abortion medication or to travel across state lines to receive abortion services.
And the order will increase access to legal services for the abortion rights battles expected to come.
Since the Supreme Court’s ruling two weeks ago, Biden has been under pressure to take executive action and faced criticism from some in his own party for not acting with more urgency.
The administration also is continuing to push Congress to codify Roe into federal law.
Biden, last week, called for the Senate to overturn the use of the filibuster to help codify abortion rights.
The White House previously ruled out giving women access to abortion on federal lands, saying it would have ‘dangerous ramifications.’
In the wake of the Supreme Court ruling, many states tamped down on access to abortion services and, in some cases, to emergency contraception.
In a nod to the legal battles expected to come, Biden will also direct the attorney general and the White House counsel to convene private pro bono attorneys, bar associations, and public interest groups to help with legal representation.
‘Such representation could include protecting the right to travel out of state to seek medical care,’ the White House noted in a fact sheet on the order.
Abortion is expected to be a huge issue in the upcoming midterm election.
And states are expected to be the major legal battle ground.
Biden met with Democratic governors at the White House last week to talk about efforts to protect reproductive rights.
Many of them have already taken action.
The Democratic governors of Colorado and North Carolina have issued executive orders to protect abortion providers and patients from extradition to home states that have banned the practice.
And the governors of Rhode Island and Maine have signed executive orders stating that they will not cooperate with other states’ investigations into people who seek abortions or health care providers that perform them.