Biden Health Secretary admits White House’s hands are tied on abortion in states that restrict it

The White House’s hands are tied when it comes to opening abortion access in states that have banned the medical procedure after Roe v. Wade was overturned, Health Secretary Xavier Becerra admitted on Sunday.

President Joe Biden and his administration have led Democrats nationwide in outrage over the Supreme Court’s decision to do away with federal abortion protections. 

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, another member of Biden’s Cabinet, warned Sunday that the increased tension over the ruling has ‘heightened the threat environment’ around the Supreme Court as well as its Justices and their families. 

It comes after his department sent out multiple warnings indicating an increased likelihood of violence from both the anti-abortion and pro-choice sides in the wake of Roe being overturned.

But there is apparently little the White House can do to mitigate the fallout, Becerra suggested on NBC News’ Meet The Press, as criticism mounts on the president’s party for failing to act sooner to protect abortion rights.

‘If you look at our laws and the way we administer them, when the Supreme Court speaks, unless we’re all going to say that the word of the Supreme Court will no longer have value, we have to heed the word of the Supreme Court. And so we will,’ Becerra said.

‘But we will continue to find every avenue possible to make sure women have access to the care that they need, including abortion care.’

Health Secretary Xavier Becerra suggested the White House’s hands are tied when it comes to expanding abortion access in states that have already banned it

It comes after Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas echoed his department’s prior warnings of a heightened level of threats in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade

Asked whether the White House would heed progressive calls to open abortion clinics on federally owned land in states where it’s already been banned, the health secretary suggested the idea was already passed over.

‘The difficulty is that simply because it’s an idea doesn’t mean it can go out into practice. And so what we want to make sure is we can put things out into practice,’ he said.

Becerra’s message to Congressional Democrats asking Biden to do more was pointedly, ‘Give us some good ideas.’ 

‘We’re going to explore everything we can. And I also would ask them to please pass a law,’ the former House Democrat from California said.

‘They have it in their power, if they can find the votes to actually codify the Roe decision, which is what we need more than anything else.’

Meanwhile the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appears to be proactively monitoring potential threats that arise from the late June Supreme Court decision.

Speaking to CBS News’ Face The Nation on Sunday, Mayorkas referenced a bulletin sent out by DHS in early June. 

DHS had issued a ‘heightened threat advisory’ on Tuesday, warning of an increased risk of ‘mass casualty violence’ nationwide fueled by extremist ideologies and personal beliefs. 

Late last month the Supreme Court instantly changed the landscape of women’s reproductive health when it overturned the Constitutional right to an abortion

The bulletin cites ‘individuals who advocate both for and against abortion’ who publicly ‘encouraged violence, including against government, religious, and reproductive healthcare personnel and facilities, as well as those with opposing ideologies.’

Mayorkas said on Sunday,  ‘We have seen a heightened threat environment over the last several months over a number of different volatile issues that galvanize people on different sides of each issue.’

He said his department becomes ‘involved when there’s a connectivity between the opposition to a particular view or an ideology of hate, a false narrative and violence.’

‘We are very mindful that the Supreme Court’s decision in reversing and overturning Roe v. Wade has really heightened the threat environment,’ Mayorkas continued.

‘We have deployed resources to ensure the safety and security of the Supreme Court and the Justices.’

That includes personnel deployed for the security of the Justices and their families. 

‘We do not condone violence and law enforcement will, and has, responded to acts of violence when people do not honor their freedom to protest peacefully, but instead violate the laws of our country and the states within it,’ Mayorkas said.