Alabama Doctor and Abortion Rights Activist Tells MSNBC Biden’s Abortion Executive Order ‘Not Enough’ and ‘Too Little’ to Help
Dr. Yashica Robinson, medical director of the Alabama Women’s Center for Reproductive Alternatives, told MSNBC’s Joy Reid that President Joe Biden’s newest executive order attempting to protect access to abortions in the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned is simply not enough to help.
Robinson, who testified before Congress on abortion care in May, says in Alabama she is unable to provide medical services she once did at all and those without the means to travel to other states are not being helped.
“We’re hearing people that say that they really need — they will have to leave the state for care. But the thing that’s most heartbreaking is the people who are not able to do that. And those are the people that I care for. Those are — that’s the majority of my patient population, people who do not have the means to travel, and those are the people that are going to be harmed the most.”
Biden’s executive order seeks to expand access to abortion pills, birth control, and provide legal protection to those who could face potential criminal ramifications from seeking or providing abortion care.
Robinson said she was initially excited by news of the executive order, but she says it’s “too little” and doesn’t help women in states like Alabama.
“I opened my phone up and I saw it and I got really excited. But I’m not a lawyer, so I don’t really — I didn’t understand what it meant, and so then as I talked to people to understand, you know, my response is, I’m happy to see that there’s some support there,” she said. “However, it’s not enough. It’s too little, you know, to really help patients and to increase access to the care that we really need. I’m glad to know that there are efforts to protect access to medication abortion. That doesn’t help people in states like Alabama where we can’t — we’re not able to treat the patients at all.”
Biden made it clear on Thursday that on top of any action from his office, Congress must act to protect abortion rights in response to the Supreme Court’s decision and people need to vote in the November midterms.
“It’s my hope and my strong belief that women will in fact turn out in record numbers to reclaim the rights that have been taken from them by the court,” the president said.
Watch above via MSNBC.
