By Nandita Bose
(Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden said on Sunday he has asked his administration to consider whether it has the authority to declare an abortion-related public health emergency after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade who legalized abortion across the country.
The comments come after Biden signed an executive order on Friday to ease access to services to terminate pregnancies.
Biden was heading for a bike ride near his Delaware residence when he stopped to speak to reporters, who asked if he was considering declaring a public health emergency regarding abortion access. The president replied that he was asking his staff to see “if I have the authority” and what the impacts would be.
Biden, a Democrat, has been under pressure from his own party to take action after last month’s landmark decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, who upended nearly 50 years of protection for women’s reproductive rights.
Stopping to speak to reporters, Biden said his goal was to codify abortion rights through legislation and delivered a message to abortion rights protesters who gathered outside the White House.
“Keep protesting. Keep making your point. It is vitally important,” she said. “We can do a lot of things to accommodate women’s rights.”
(Reporting by Nandita Bose; Writing by Tyler Clifford in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)