Following the Supreme Court’s misogynist, anti-democratic decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, ending abortion as a federal right in the U.S., the movement for reproductive justice and women’s equality must demand that President Joe Biden take immediate emergency action to guarantee access to this important and life-saving medical procedure in all 50 states. The idea that the federal government can do nothing substantial at this moment, that its hands are tied, is false. This is a matter of political will.

Anti-abortion “trigger” laws will take 30 days to take effect in most places. While our protests continue to demand federal legislation to make abortion a right, and the elimination of the filibuster, we also demand the White House take emergency action. A public health emergency can be declared. Federal facilities and military hospitals could be opened to offer abortion care. These, and many other actions, are well within presidential authority without federal legislation. The government can and must assert that the Hyde Amendment, which denies federal funds for abortion in Medicaid and other health program, does not apply to such emergency actions.