Federal government to protect women travelling for abortions: Biden

Washington, July 2 (UNI) US president Joe Biden has said that the federal government will protect women travelling for abortions, BBC reported on Saturday.

Biden’s announcement came after millions of American women lost their constitutional right to abortion in June, after the Supreme Court overturned its 50-year-old Roe v Wade decision, paving the way for individual states to ban the procedure.

The states have thus become local battlegrounds in the fight to overturn or uphold abortion services.

Women in states where abortion is banned or restricted may be forced to travel to states where the procedure remains legal.

Speaking at a virtual meeting with Democratic state governors, Biden warned that some US states would attempt to arrest women who crossed state lines for abortion access adding that the government would ensure that women have access to pills that caused abortion in states where it was prohibited.

The overturning of Roe v Wade has sent shockwaves throughout the US and divided the country right through the middle.

It was the Supreme Court ruling that ensured that pregnant women were entitled to an abortion during the first three months of their pregnancy, while allowing for legal restrictions and bans in the second and third trimester.

Thirteen states have already severely curtailed or blocked abortion access since the court’s decision.

Mr Biden said only Democratic victories in the Midterm elections would give Congress the power to restore federal abortion rights – this will go one way or another after November, he said.