More than 30 Senate Democrats call for Biden to take action to protect abortion access

A group of Democratic senators wrote a letter on Saturday urging President Biden to take action to protect abortion access across the country in response to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

The 33 Senators called on Biden to use “the full force of the federal government to protect access to abortion in the United States.”

“There is no time to waste,” the letter read. “Nearly half of the states already had laws in place to ban abortion or severely restrict access as soon as the Supreme Court decision came down.”

Thirteen states had “trigger” laws in place that have gone into effect or are in the process of going into effect after Roe was overturned, removing federal-level abortion protections.

Apart from those states, another nine also have laws or constitutional amendments banning or severely restricting abortion already in place, according to pro-choice research group the Guttmacher Institute.

“Now is the time for bold action to protect the right to an abortion,” the letter said.

The senators urged: “You have the power to fight back and lead a national response to this devastating decision, so we call on you to take every step available to your Administration, across federal agencies, to help women access abortions and other reproductive health care, and to protect those who will face the harshest burdens from this devastating and extreme decision.”

The letter also raised concerns about potential further Republican action to restrict abortion nationwide, calling the Supreme Court decision and other actions to restrict abortion access “an unprecedented assault on women and the result of decades of activism by Republican extremists.”

The senators who signed on to the letter included Democratic Sens. Patty Murray (Wash.), Ed Markey (Mass.), Ron Wyden (Ore.), Jeff Merkley (Ore.), Mazie Hirono (Hawaii), Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), Jacky Rosen (Nev.), Tammy Duckworth (Ill.), Michael Bennet (Colo.), Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Brian Schatz (Hawaii), Chris Van Hollen (Md.), Maggie Hassan (N.H.), Jack Reed (R.I.), Tim Kaine (Va.), Tina Smith (Minn.), Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), Chris Murphy (Conn.), Tom Carper (Del.), Debbie Stabenow (Mich.), Mark Kelly (Ariz.), Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), John Hickenlooper (Colo.), Maria Cantwell (Wash.), Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), Cory Booker (N.J.), Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.), Tammy Baldwin (Wis.) and Dick Durbin (Ill.), as well as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)