Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said Friday that he will begin a national tour next week to tout the Biden administration's efforts to preserve and expand access to abortion.
Becerra kicked off the tour in Washington on Tuesday, visiting western states including Arizona, California, Nevada and New Mexico. He is scheduled to appear at roundtables with health care workers, family planning groups and families affected by the states' strict abortion laws.
Becerra said in an interview that he was traveling with good news after the Supreme Court unanimously rejected a challenge this week that would have significantly restricted access to the widely available abortion drug mifepristone, but he added that his message was no less urgent.
“A lot of women are still confused: Can I get an abortion?” he said, saying the tour is a way for people to get clear and accurate information. “Until when can women get an abortion? Who can provide it? We want women to know that women still have a lot of rights.”
Becerra's tour is not part of President Biden's reelection campaign, but he will be speaking about reproductive rights in key election states in November.
The issue has been at the center of the election since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, and Democrats are betting that abortion rights will help drive voters to the polls. In Southwest battleground states with large Latino populations, such as Arizona and Nevada, Democrats are especially looking to motivate Latino voters.
Former President Donald J. Trump has said abortion rights should be left to individual states, a view echoed by several Republican candidates in battleground states who have made no mention of a nationwide ban, exposing rifts within the party over the issue.
The White House has tasked Becerra with helping to protect access to reproductive health care since Democrats and reproductive rights groups first pressed Biden to act following the Supreme Court ruling. In 2022, his agency pledged to work with the Justice Department to ensure access to abortion pills. He has since met with patients and health care workers across the country, including visiting Planned Parenthood clinics in St. Louis and Minneapolis.
Becerra said in an interview Friday that many women across the country are still being turned away from emergency rooms, forced to go to courts to seek treatment or having to travel hundreds of miles for care. Anti-abortion activists are still trying to limit access to birth control and fertility treatments such as in vitro fertilization.
“So many people are confused and scared right now, and it's hard to make good decisions when you're confused and scared,” he said.
