, Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday said the White House is not currently discussing the idea of using federal property to ensure access to abortion services for those living in states that have banned or are moving to ban the procedure.'s Dana Bash, Harris initially dodged the question, saying the Biden administration is looking to"do everything we can to empower women to not only seek but to receive the care where it is available.
The vice president did say the White House is exploring options to guarantee that pregnant people have"access to the medication they need" and"freedom of travel" as Republican-controlled statesAfter Harris' interview aired, an unnamed White House officialthat"while this [federal lands] proposal is well-intentioned, it could put women and providers at risk."
"And importantly, in states where abortion is now illegal," the official added,"women and providers who are not federal employees could be potentially be prosecuted." Several prominent Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez , have called on the Biden administration to urgently and creatively use all of the federal resources at its disposal—including property—to provide access to abortion in Republican-led states where it's now outlawed.
, including Texas and Oklahoma, enacted total abortion bans almost immediately after the Supreme Court's right-wing majority handed down its ruling ending