Reading of the White House round table with leaders in women’s rights and reproductive health

Today, Gender Policy Council Co-Chairs Jennifer Klein and Julissa Reynoso, White House Lawyer Dana Remus and Deputy White House Lawyer Danielle Conley, Director of the Office of Political Strategy and Outreach Emmy Ruiz, and Home Policy Council Deputy Director Christen Linke Young hosted a panel discussion with leaders in women’s rights and reproductive health to discuss the Supreme Court’s decision on Texas SB8. The meeting followed the unprecedented attack on constitutional rights under Roe vs. Wade and underscored the President’s commitment to ensure that every person in this country has access to reproductive health care. President Biden made it clear in his statement earlier this week that this law will significantly impede access to care, especially for communities of color and low-income people, and Vice President Harris reiterated in her statement the commitment of the administration to use all levers to defend this right to safe and legal abortion and to strengthen this right.

During the meeting, women’s rights leaders shared the impact of the ruling – what Fatima Goss Graves, chief executive officer of the National Women’s Law Center, called “a legal and public health emergency” – on those directly affected in local communities across the state of Texas. The leaders shared recommendations on steps the federal government can take to ensure that all people in the United States, including Texas, have access to safe and legal abortions protected by Roe deer and highlighted links to racial equity, gender-based violence and the maternal health crisis in the United States

Senior White House officials expressed gratitude for the leadership and advocacy of the reproductive health and rights community, especially at a time when women’s health is under threat in states across the country. National leaders support an ecosystem of local affiliates, providers and community organizations, many of whom are led by women of color, on the front lines of protecting reproductive health and rights.

White House officials also underscored the Biden-Harris administration’s urgent commitment to protect and advance reproductive health and rights, as evidenced by the launch of a whole-of-government effort – led by the Gender Policy Council and the White House Council Office – to respond to the law. Earlier this week, the president tasked the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Justice to explore steps the federal government can take to ensure access to a safe and legal abortion. These efforts build on the president’s previous commitments to a government-wide approach to advancing gender equity and equality, including women’s reproductive health care.

Women’s rights and reproductive health leaders who participated in today’s roundtable included:

• Alexis McGill Johnson, President and CEO, Planned Parenthood Federation of America
• Brigitte Amiri, Deputy Director of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, American Civil Liberties Union

• Fatima Goss Graves, President and CEO, National Center for Women’s Rights
• Jamie Mason, President, Catholics for Choice
• Jocelyn Frye, Principal Investigator, Women’s Initiative, Center for American Progress
• Marcela Howell, President and CEO, In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Program
• Nancy Northup, President and CEO, Center for Reproductive Rights
• Shaina Goodman, Director of Reproductive Health and Rights Policy, National Partnership for Women and Families
• Sheila Katz, CEO, National Council of Jewish Women
• Silvia Henriquez, co-chair, All * Above All
• Sung Yeon Choimorrow, Executive Director, National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum