Cory Booker pledges to protect abortion rights with executive action as president
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) has announced a plan to protect abortion rights as president, pledging to take executive action.
Booker on Wednesday said that if elected, he will "immediately and decisively take executive action to respond to these relentless efforts to erode Americans' rights to control their own bodies," CNN reports. His announcement comes amid a string of restrictive new laws across the country, and Booker said that "a coordinated attack requires a coordinated response."
This would involve creating a White House Office of Reproductive Freedom to protect abortion rights as well as to expand reproductive health-care access, CBS News reports.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Booker's plan also includes rolling back the "conscience rule," a proposal that would let health-care providers choose not to provide abortion access for religious reasons; end the "domestic gag rule," which prevents federal funding through Title IX from going to Planned Parenthood but has been blocked by a federal judge; and repeal the Hyde Amendment, which bars federal funding from being used for abortion services except in cases of rape, incest, or where the life of the mother is in danger. He also plans to guarantee employer-based coverage for contraceptive care, per CBS.
The New Jersey senator's announcement comes after his 2020 rival, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), also introduced a plan to protect abortion rights with new federal laws codifying Roe v. Wade, an aspect of Booker's proposal as well. Warren said she will "protect access to reproductive care from right-wing ideologues in the states," warning that efforts to have Roe v. Wade overturned "just might work."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
-
The Olympic timekeepers keeping the Games on trackUnder the Radar Swiss watchmaking giant Omega has been at the finish line of every Olympic Games for nearly 100 years
-
Will increasing tensions with Iran boil over into war?Today’s Big Question President Donald Trump has recently been threatening the country
-
Corruption: The spy sheikh and the presidentFeature Trump is at the center of another scandal
-
Judge orders Washington slavery exhibit restoredSpeed Read The Trump administration took down displays about slavery at the President’s House Site in Philadelphia
-
Hyatt chair joins growing list of Epstein files losersSpeed Read Thomas Pritzker stepped down as executive chair of the Hyatt Hotels Corporation over his ties with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell
-
Judge blocks Hegseth from punishing Kelly over videoSpeed Read Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushed for the senator to be demoted over a video in which he reminds military officials they should refuse illegal orders
-
Trump’s EPA kills legal basis for federal climate policySpeed Read The government’s authority to regulate several planet-warming pollutants has been repealed
-
House votes to end Trump’s Canada tariffsSpeed Read Six Republicans joined with Democrats to repeal the president’s tariffs
-
Bondi, Democrats clash over Epstein in hearingSpeed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi ignored survivors of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and demanded that Democrats apologize to Trump
-
El Paso airspace closure tied to FAA-Pentagon standoffSpeed Read The closure in the Texas border city stemmed from disagreements between the Federal Aviation Administration and Pentagon officials over drone-related tests
-
Judge blocks Trump suit for Michigan voter rollsSpeed Read A Trump-appointed federal judge rejected the administration’s demand for voters’ personal data
