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President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed an executive order that lays the groundwork for Medicaid to help women seeking abortions to travel between states to obtain access to the procedure. The details are still being worked out, and the administration faces a challenging legal landscape because it’s illegal to use federal funding to pay for abortions unless the woman’s life is in danger or the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. (Kim and Megerian, 8/3)

Biden’s executive order also directs HHS to consider actions like providing technical assistance and issuing new guidance to make sure health care providers comply with nondiscrimination laws in the wake of the ruling. And the order instructs HHS to improve federal research and data collection at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in order to evaluate the impact of the Supreme Court’s ruling on maternal health and reproductive healthcare.  (Chalfant, 8/3)

“It will take a long time to get a shift in our Constitution,” says Fatima Goss Graves, president and chief executive officer of the National Women’s Law Center. “That does not absolve anyone at any level.” One former administration official puts it more pointedly: “What the hell? They had plenty of time to figure this out.” (Cook, 8/4)