William Lori, archbishop of Baltimore and Chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Pro-Life Activities, is among those criticizing President Joe Biden for signing an executive order to expand access to abortion pills.

“In response to the Dobbs decision, I called for the healing of wounds and repairing of social divisions, for reasoned reflection and civil dialogue, and for coming together to build a society and economy that supports marriages and families, and where every woman has the support and resources she needs to bring her child into this world in love,” Lori said in a recent statement. “It is deeply disturbing and tragic that President Biden is choosing instead to use his power as president of the United States to promote and facilitate abortion in our country, seeking every possible avenue to deny unborn children their most basic human and civil right, the right to life.” 

Biden recently signed an executive order that asks the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to increase access to abortion pills, a report from Politico said. At the same time, Biden urged American women to vote for Democrats in the midterm elections if they'd like to see further expansion of abortion access. 

Biden is coming under fire from both sides, with some Democrats saying the executive order is not enough. 

“We’ve received a lot of lip service from this administration and all the gaslighting calls to ‘just vote’ are not enough,” Sharmin Hossain, campaign director of the Liberate Abortion Coalition, said in the Politico report. 

Planned Parenthood, however, applauded Biden's executive order.

"We’re in a national health care crisis and need officials at every level of government to do everything within their authority to fight for access to abortion,” Jacqueline Ayers, the organization’s senior vice president of Policy, said in a recent press release. “Amid the Supreme Court stripping Americans of their constitutional right to abortion after nearly 50 years, we need an urgent and robust response to ensure people get the essential health care they need. Planned Parenthood is encouraged the administration is reaffirming its commitment to abortion access and looks forward to working toward implementation of these and other strategies to address this crisis.” 

Lori said Biden’s action was not the best use of the power of the president.

“Rather than using the power of the executive branch to increase support and care to mothers and babies, the president’s executive order seeks only to facilitate the destruction of defenseless, voiceless human beings,” the archbishop said in the statement. “I implore the president to abandon this path that leads to death and destruction and to choose life.”

The "abortion pill" is typically a package of five pills—one mifepristone pill and four misoprostol pills, A Woman's Choice said in a release on its website. 

But complications can arise after taking the pills, the release said. For two to four weeks after the pills are taken, most women experience cramping, bleeding, nausea, vomiting, fever, chills, diarrhea and headaches; the report said. Some women experience blood clots larger than lemons, severe abdominal and back pain, or continued pregnancy. Psychological side effects are more common and longer-lasting than physical side effects and include depression, regret, guilt, anger, loneliness, nightmares, loss of self-confidence, relationship problems and suicidal thoughts. Some women also experience fatal bacterial infections or fatal toxic shock as a result of abortion pills.

Lori would like a concerted effort to protect the unborn.

“As always, the Catholic Church stands ready to work with this administration and all elected officials to protect the right to life of every human being and to ensure that pregnant and parenting mothers are fully supported in the care of their children before and after birth,” he said in the statement.