Biden to sign executive order on abortion access

The White House says President Biden will take executive action Friday to protect access to abortion.

The action will follow the recent Supreme Court ruling that ended a decades-old constitutional right to abortion and attempts to mitigate potential penalties women seeking abortion may face after the ruling, according to the Associated Press.

Biden is under pressure from fellow Democrats and others who support abortion to be more forceful on the matter. However, he is limited as president in what he can do.

The White House said Biden will speak Friday morning on "protecting access to reproductive health care services."

He is expected to formalize instructions to the departments of Justice and Health and Human Services to push back on efforts to limit the ability of women to access federally approved abortion medication and travel across state lines to access clinical abortion services, the wire service also reports.