First lady Jill Biden hosted a group of women from across the country at the White House on Tuesday to discuss abortion access following the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision -- the ruling that overturned the nearly 50-year right to an abortion guaranteed in Roe v. Wade -- just ahead of the its one-year anniversary.
Jennifer Klein, Director of the White House Gender Policy Council, joined the first lady in a conversation with four women -- one from Florida, one from Louisiana and two from Texas – who have been denied medical care related to pregnancies.
“Like those who are with us today, far, far too many women are experiencing devastating consequences to their health, their fertility and their lives,” the first lady said.
The women, seated together around a table at the White House, shared stories of how they have been personally impacted by abortion restrictions in their states after experiencing complications with their pregnancies.
“People don’t realize that even prayed for, planned pregnancies can end in abortion,” Dr. Austin Dennard, an OB/GYN from Texas, said.
Dr. Dennard, a mother of two, spoke about the moment 11 weeks into her pregnancy that she found out her third child’s brain and skull had never developed, a condition known as anencephaly.
“I remember looking at the ultrasound screen and just knowing immediately that I was going to need another abortion, but only this time I would have to flee my own state in order to receive one,” she said.
Dr. Dennard, who is now pregnant again with her third child, had already experienced three previous pregnancy loses, two of which ended in abortion due to fetal diagnoses. Texas banned most abortions following the passage of Dobbs.
“The Dobbs decision was devastating and Joe [Biden] is doing everything he can do to fight back, but the only way that we can ensure that every woman has the fundamental freedoms she deserves is for Congress to make the protections of Roe v. Wade the law of the land once again,” the first lady said at Tuesday’s event.
The Biden administration is planning a number of events related to abortion access this week ahead of the one-year anniversary of the Dobbs decision, which returned the issue of abortion to the states. Since then, many Republican-controlled legislatures across the country have restricted the practice.
Also Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to participate in a tapped roundtable discussion on reproductive rights with MSNBC.
President Biden, Harris, the first lady and the second gentleman Douglas Emhoff are expected to participate in an event with reproductive rights groups on Friday in Washington, D.C.
The White House will mark the official anniversary of the decision on Saturday with a speech by the vice president in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Harris has played a key role in the administration’s response to the Dobbs decision since the Supreme Court ruling, with the vice president traveling the country to talk with state lawmakers and activists about reproductive rights.
More than 80 state lawmakers from 41 states joined Biden administration officials at the White House last week to discuss policy agenda to counter efforts in Republican-led states to restrict reproductive rights.
“It’s important to bring them in and to tell them ‘hey we have your back, that we see you, we appreciate the fight that you have been doing and we are partners with you on moving forward,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a briefing regarding last week’s event.