VP Harris: Biden Will Make Sure Women Have Access to the Abortion Pill

(CNSNews.com) – Vice President Kamala Harris said Monday that President Biden plans to make sure that women nationwide have access to the abortion pill mifepristone, also known as RU-486.

During an interview with CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper,” host Dana Bash asked the vice president whether the administration plans to actively challenge states that make it illegal for someone to help pregnant women travel to another state for an abortion.

“The president rightly last week when the decision came down, indicated quite unambiguously that we will do everything within our power as an administration through the executive branch to ensure that women have access to the medication they need, which has been, by the way, FDA approved, and that they will have freedom of travel and that travel should be unrestricted,” Harris said.

When asked if the administration will do that through the courts if need be, the vice president said, “I’m sure that our Department of Justice is going to do that based on every statement that the attorney general has made.”

As to whether the administration can increase access to “medication abortion,” the vice president said, “I think we’re pretty clear that to the extent we can, we will. There’s no question about that, because again, it is FDA approved, and if it is prescribed that a woman should be able to have access to it unfettered.”

When asked whether the administration plans to seek some form of travel voucher or a voucher for child care services for women seeking abortions in states where it’s illegal, Harris said, “I think you’re asking a very important point — making a very important point, which is what are the details that are going to go into ensuring that women have the ability to actually travel without impairment, and we know that on this issue, women who have access to resources will probably be far less impacted by this decision than women who don’t have resources.

“So this is something that we are looking at, because we know, for example, in terms of how this is going to actually impact real people, over half of women who receive abortions in America are moms. That means that if they’re going to have to travel, they’ve got to find day care and pay for it,” she said.

“It means that they will, if they are working, which most are, they’re going to have to have time from work. If they don’t have paid leave, they’re going to have to figure out how to afford it,” the vice president said.

“It means they may have to put up money for a train or a bus or a plane, much less a hotel, and so we want to make sure that there does not result in extreme disparities or any disparities based on who can receive care based on how much money they’ve got,” Harris said.

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