Biden signs executive order on abortion

President Joe Biden signed an executive order Wednesday that laid the groundwork for Medicaid to enable women to travel to another state for an abortion. This is his second pro-abortion executive order since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The first created the so-called Reproductive Rights Task Force on July 12. Wednesday’s order also encourages healthcare providers to provide data to the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

What’s been happening in the states? Kansans voted Tuesday against an amendment to the state constitution that would have allowed lawmakers to protect unborn babies either completely or partially. With most of the votes counted by Wednesday morning, the referendum was failing by about 20 percentage points. The state Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that abortion is a “fundamental” right. The amendment would have said the constitution does not protect the right to abortion, giving lawmakers the ability to pass more pro-life laws. Kansas currently protects babies in most cases after 22 weeks of gestation.  Kentucky voters will decide whether to add a pro-life amendment to their state constitution in November. But voters in Vermont and Michigan will decide in November whether to add a provision that would allow abortions to their state constitutions.

Dig deeper: Read Leah Savas’ report on other states that have similar court rulings impeding pro-life laws.