Biden Ends Gag Rule on Abortion, Reopens Health Insurance Marketplace

Today’s executive orders expand Americans’ access to health care.

Doug Mills/CNP/Zuma

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

Another day, another spate of executive orders from President Biden aimed at undoing conservative Trump-era policies. Today, Biden signed two orders expanding access to the Affordable Care Act and rolling back restrictions on reproductive rights.

The first order reopens the Open Enrollment Period from February 15 to May 15, giving Americans in need of health insurance three months to sign up for a plan on the Healthcare.gov marketplace. It also directs federal agencies to reexamine policies that made it harder for people to access health care—of which Trump instituted many.

The second order repeals the Mexico City Policy, also known as the global gag rule, which prevents family planning groups abroad that receive US aid from performing, facilitating, or discussing abortions abortions. As Vox explains, every Republican president since Ronald Reagan has instated this rule, and every Democratic president has repealed it. Trump’s version went a step further, barring any foreign organization that receives US aid—not just family planning organizations—from discussing abortion. 

These actions, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said at a press conference this afternoon, “build on the actions the president has taken to put equity at the heart of his administration’s response to COVID-19.”

DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And we need your support like never before, to fight back against the existential threats American democracy faces. Fundraising for nonprofit media is always a challenge, and we need all hands on deck right now. We have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And we need your support like never before, to fight back against the existential threats American democracy faces. Fundraising for nonprofit media is always a challenge, and we need all hands on deck right now. We have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate