Lujan Grisham, other governors speak with Biden on need for congressional abortion protections

Jul. 2—Michelle Lujan Grisham was among the Democratic governors who told President Joe Biden on Friday their states would offer abortion access to women from states where the procedure has been banned; they also sought a federal law legalizing abortion.

Biden thanked the governors for their efforts in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning the half-century-old Roe v. Wade ruling that protected a woman's right to an abortion — an action the president decried as a "terrible, extreme decision."

"I share the public's outrage at this extremist court ... committed to moving America backward with fewer rights and less autonomy," Biden said during the livestreamed event.

Biden said he met with Attorney General Merrick Garland to discuss what the federal government can do to ensure states outlawing abortions don't infringe on women's civil liberties as they seek to bypass the bans.

In states that have banned abortions or are moving to do so, lawmakers are discussing how to criminalize women seeking abortions in states where it is legal or going after providers in those states.

Federal agencies will step in if a state tries to block a woman from traveling to another state to get "the medical help she needs," Biden said, calling this mobility "a bedrock right."

Agencies also will work to prevent states from interfering with women ordering an abortion medicine the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved for use 20 years ago, Biden said.

He didn't say how the government would intervene on behalf of the women.

Biden said it's essential to pass a national law giving women equal protection across the entire country. Many people don't believe a woman actually will be arrested and jailed for crossing a state line to get an abortion, but it will happen if nothing is done, he said.

And if Republicans regain control of the House and Senate, they're likely to push for a nationwide abortion ban, he said.

"Congress needs to act," Biden said.

Lujan Grisham echoed Biden's condemnation of the six conservative justices reversing federal abortion rights and discussed measures New Mexico has taken, including to block interstate intrusions.

She said she and her fellow Democratic governors are "a brick wall against this horrific Supreme Court decision."

"New Mexico certainly saw this coming as a potential," Lujan Grisham said.

She described how the state Legislature last year at her behest repealed an old, dormant law that would have criminalized abortion after the Supreme Court reversed federal protections.

The governor also talked of how she issued a recent executive order to prevent officials from nearby states such as Texas from blocking their residents who seek abortions in New Mexico and from prosecuting multi-state health providers who offer them.

New Mexico also will rebuff those pursuing state-sanctioned bounties for turning in fellow Texans getting abortions that are lawful here but illegal there, she said.

"We will not cooperate as a state in any of those efforts or investigations," Lujan Grisham said. "We will not extradite. We will provide cover and protection for all of our providers and any individual seeking ... abortion services in the state of New Mexico."

At the same time, New Mexico has increased reproductive care, family planning, contraception and abortion services through funding and its state network of medical providers, she said.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said no woman should have to travel because her reproductive rights are crimped where she lives, but that's the current reality.

"The rights of millions of women across the country are falling on the shoulders of just a handful of states," Hochul said.

Hochul said the New York Legislature is moving to embed abortion rights in the state constitution. At the same time, the state will continue to be a "safe harbor" for women to obtain an abortion, she said.

New York has funneled $35 million to expand abortion services in anticipation of the influx of women from states where abortion is unlawful, Hochul said. The state also has passed laws protecting providers from extradition and malpractice lawsuits, she said.

Biden said the Supreme Court decision challenged the right to privacy, the foundation on which Roe was based. That paves the way for the court to go after same-sex marriage, contraception and other rulings, Biden said, noting Justice Clarence Thomas said so explicitly in his opinion.

Democrats, he said, can't simply avoid losing ground in the fall election, but must gain seats in the Senate so the filibuster can be removed, allowing these rights to be codified by a simple majority vote.

"There's a lot at stake here," Biden said.

Follow Daniel J. Chacón on Twitter @danieljchacon.