Biden blasts Supreme Court inaction on Texas abortion law, vows to pursue legal remedies

President Joe Biden says he is launching a "whole-of-government effort" in response to the Supreme Court allowing for a restrictive abortion law to take effect in Texas.

President Joe Biden says he is launching a "whole-of-government effort" in response to the Supreme Court allowing the nation's most restrictive abortion law to take effect in Texas, directing his Gender Policy Council and the White House legal team to tap federal agencies to ensure women in Texas maintain their constitutional right to an abortion. "While the Chief Justice was clear to stress that the action by the Supreme Court is not a final ruling on the future of Roe, the impact of last night's decision will be immediate and requires an immediate response," Biden said in a statement on Thursday. "Hence, I am directing that Council and the Office of the White House Counsel to launch a whole-of-government effort to respond to this decision, looking specifically to the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Justice to see what steps the Federal Government can take to ensure that women in Texas have access to safe and legal abortions as protected by Roe, and what legal tools we have to insulate women and providers from the impact of Texas' bizarre scheme of outsourced enforcement to private parties," the statement said. The Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision Wednesday night formally rejected a request by Texas abortion providers to block the state's severe new law restricting the procedure while legal challenges continue. Most abortions in Texas are now illegal after six weeks of pregnancy, and private citizens -- who do not have to be Texas residents -- are encouraged to sue a person they believe is providing an abortion or assisting a woman in getting one, whether they are a rape counselor or an Uber driver taking a woman to a clinic.