WACO, Texas — Two weeks after the Supreme Court voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, President Joe Biden signed an executive order to push back.
"The executive order directs HHS to identify ways to expand access to reproductive health services," he said before signing.
That includes IUDs, birth control pills, and emergency contraception. It also aims to protect women who might need to travel to different states for an abortion.
Mary Elizabeth Castle, senior policy advisor with Texas Values, said they aren't happy about it.
"It's very clear that he is trying to use the legal department and the other agencies to lead women to abortion as a form of birth control and not giving them other options to raise a family or live healthy lives," she said.
She called the president's order a quote "war on women and babies".
"Instead of helping them, especially in this economic downturn he's basically saying that women have a right to kill their preborn child, even though the supreme court has decided there's no right to an abortion in the constitution," she said.
As pro-life advocates push for an end to abortions altogether, pro-choice advocates in Waco like Sarah Malachowski said this was just the first step toward reclaiming rights.
"While it's good and a step forward, it's something that should've been expected," she said. "It should have happened because overall this helps, but women have still been stripped of rights that are needed and should be expected."
Pro-choice supporters say overturning Roe v Wade and the abortion bans that followed are dangerous for women.
"Long before this point, Roe v. Wade should've been codified and it shouldn't have even been able to be reversed at this point," Malachowski said. "So many women's lives will be endangered because of this. It's going to affect so many people."
