White House Responds to Calls to Provide Abortions on Federal Land

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during a White House daily press briefing at the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington on June 15, 2022. Alex Wong/Getty Images

The White House on Tuesday pushed back on left-wing suggestions that the federal government should allow abortion services to be provided on federal land following the Supreme Court’s decision to reverse Roe v. Wade.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) are among those who called on the federal government to use federal land to provide abortions in states that restrict the procedure, which religious groups and some conservatives say is murder and has caused significant damage to the concept of the traditional family unit.

Warren, while providing few details, told The Washington Post that the federal government could set up Planned Parenthood abortion “tents” with “trained personnel” in some Republican-led states. Furthermore, Warren added that the federal government should declare a national emergency following the ruling.

But White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said that such a move is unfeasible.

“With this proposal—we understand the proposal is well-intentioned, but here’s the thing: It could actually put women and providers at risk. And importantly, in states where abortion is now illegal, women and providers who are not federal employees, as you look at the federal land, could potentially be prosecuted,” she told reporters.

Jean-Pierre added that there are “actually dangerous ramifications to doing this” and added that the White House is “looking at an array of other actions.”

Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday told CNN that the administration is not looking into allowing abortions to be carried out on federal lands when she was asked about those proposals.

“I mean, it’s not right now what we are discussing,” Harris told the network. “But I will say that when I think about what is happening in terms of the states, we have to also recognize ... that we are 130 odd days away from an election, which is going to include Senate races.”

U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra on Tuesday said that the federal government will take action against states if their laws violate federal law.

“If we see a state, for example, trying to deny a particular patient care in an emergency room, which could include abortion services if it is appropriate to preserve that woman’s life or health, we will take action, and we will do everything we can,” Becerra said at a news conference.

In striking down Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court’s majority argued that until the later part of the 20th century, abortion as a constitutional “right was entirely unknown in American law

“When Fourteenth Amendment was adopted, three-quarters of the States made abortion a crime at all stages of pregnancy,” the ruling stated. “The abortion right is also critically different from any other right that this Court has held to fall within the Fourteenth Amendment’s protection of ‘liberty.’”