President Biden today signed an Executive Order protecting access to medical abortion and contraception. The President had been under pressure from reproductive justice advocates and other Democrats who criticized him for not taking more action after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24.

Jen Klein, White House director of gender policy, told Marie Claire that the Biden administration has had dozens of meetings with multiple stakeholders in recent weeks to talk about reproductive rights. She has met with doctors, health care providers, privacy experts, advocates, government officials, Planned Parenthood, and independent clinics. When asked if Biden had met with and talked to anyone who had recently had an abortion, Klein said that Biden had not, but that his staff (including Klein himself) had.

"We are incredibly careful and analyze every option," Klein said. 'We consider every option. In fact, there is literally nothing that has been proposed by advocates or legislators that we have not considered."

Before signing the presidential order, Biden called the Supreme Court's ruling "terrible" and "extreme" and reiterated that people need to "vote, vote, vote." The presidential order directs Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra to submit within 30 days measures that will be taken to ensure access to medical abortion, contraception, and emergency medical care. The Presidential Order mentions the need for additional HIPAA guidance and enhanced patient protections and seeks to convene volunteer attorneys representing "patients, providers, and third parties who lawfully seek or provide reproductive health care services."

The President has also convened an interagency Task Force on Reproductive Health Care Access. Biden's order calls on the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission to consider ways to protect the privacy of consumers seeking reproductive health care services.

Reproductive justice advocates will watch to see how the executive order plays out in concrete terms, but especially for pregnant people seeking abortions who cannot travel or reside in states where abortion procedures are banned or extremely restricted, more needs to be done. There continues to be frustration among some Democrats who insist that the law is not a "good thing.

In response to Marie Claire's question about what assistance is being considered for those who cannot travel for financial reasons, Klein responded Philanthropy and the private sector are really stepping up to provide travel funding. At this point, we don't have a plan to fund transportation," she added.

After a follow-up on how the administration will deal with cases of people who have secured funding but are unable to travel and are incarcerated, Klein says she is looking into "everything." As for undocumented immigrants who may be prevented from traveling because of the risk of border checkpoints, Klein says the White House will continue to be "vigilant" about how people are restricted from traveling." I would say that no option, no action is off the table."

There have been reports of people being denied access to mifeprostone, a pill used for medical abortion, after Dobbs. Women are told to wait "until they are really sick."

She points to Attorney General Merrick Garland's recent comments on medical abortion: "The FDA has approved the use of the drug Mifepristone. States cannot ban Mifepristone because they disagree with the FDA's expert judgment regarding its safety and effectiveness. 0]

Klein argues that today's Executive Order "takes the next step" toward considering what can be done to make medical abortion available and accessible. Meanwhile, the battle continues at the state level as doctors, lawyers, and pregnant people seek to open new vistas for reproductive rights.

This article has been updated.