Biden & Harris Release Framework for Desperately Needed COVID-19 Relief

 WASHINGTON — Tonight, the incoming Biden-Harris administration released a framework for much-needed legislation to respond to the COVID-19 public health crisis. This plan will increase funding and support for COVID-19 testing, tracing, and treatment; invest in community vaccination sites; equip states to vaccinate all Medicaid enrollees by fully covering the administration of vaccines; provide funding for states to reopen schools safely; provide individuals with $1,400 direct stimulus checks and extend unemployment insurance; support global health, humanitarian, and gender-based violence efforts around the world; and more.

Statement from Alexis McGill Johnson, president, Planned Parenthood Action Fund:

We applaud the incoming Biden-Harris administration for preparing to hit the ground running on COVID-19 relief. The outgoing Trump administration and Mitch McConnell’s Senate majority led a woefully disjointed, inadequate, and significantly delayed response to the pandemic and accompanying economic crisis — especially hurting Black and Latino communities, who already face barriers to care. The framework presented today is a strong start. As legislation develops, we must ensure that its priorities become concrete investments in the U.S. and abroad. We look forward to working with the Biden-Harris administration and Congress to pass the comprehensive COVID-19 relief so desperately needed by people in the U.S. and around the world.

Reproductive health and freedom are inextricably tied to safety from the pandemic, systemic racism, and more. Beyond COVID-19 relief, the Biden-Harris administration has other critical work ahead. That’s why Planned Parenthood Federation of America — in partnership with In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda and a coalition of more than 90 groups — laid out a detailed list of legislative and regulatory priorities for 2021 and beyond. First Priorities for the Blueprint for Sexual and Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice is a comprehensive list of executive and agency actions the Biden administration must get to work on immediately.

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Planned Parenthood Action Fund is an independent, nonpartisan, not-for-profit membership organization formed as the advocacy and political arm of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. The Action Fund engages in educational, advocacy and electoral activity, including grassroots organizing, legislative advocacy, and voter education.