Repro Rights Report

Abortions denied with COVID as the excuse

Posted on April 8, 2020

Texas is currently denying abortions statewide based on a clearly unconstitutional executive order which was at least temporarily upheld by a 2-1 decision in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. (Texas providers are now asking the U.S. District Court to allow medication abortions.) Similar orders to deny abortions in Oklahoma, Alabama and Ohio are at least temporarily blocked. Iowa settled a lawsuit, allowing abortions to go forward if they couldn’t be postponed.

TEXAS

Governor Greg Abbott signed an order barring any medical procedures deemed not to be immediately necessary, supposedly to conserve medical resources to fight COVID-19. Then Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton stepped in and asserted that the order applied to any abortion that was not required to protect the life or health of the person receiving it, including medication abortion.

Abortion providers filed suit in federal court because the Attorney General was attempting to ban legal abortions, a violation of longstanding constitutional rights. The United States District Court issued a temporary restraining order which stayed the operation of the Texas order against abortion providers. The state appealed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals where a three-judge panel ruled two-to-one in favor of the State of Texas. (Predictably, the two judges were appointed by Republicans and the one by a Democrat.) Instead of appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court, Texas providers are asking the U.S. District Court to allow medication abortions. (UPDATE: The same Fifth Circuit panel ultimately blocked Texas from preventing medication abortions.)

Public Leadership Institute’s former director of abortion rights programs, Aimee Arrambide, now Executive Director of Texas NARAL, said:

“Texans know abortion is a time-sensitive procedure that cannot be delayed without profound consequences and Texans will remember that when they needed help during a pandemic, their state leaders were too busy politicizing and banning abortion care.”

OKLAHOMA

Governor Kevin Stitt signed an order that all “elective” medical and surgical procedures be postponed and in a subsequent press release he claimed that the order prohibited all abortions in the state.

Abortion providers filed suit in federal court for violating the constitutional right to abortion. The United States District Court issued a temporary restraining order which stayed the operation of the Oklahoma order against abortion providers.

ALABAMA

Governor Kay Ivey signed an order that all “elective” medical and surgical procedures be postponed and in a subsequent press release claimed that the order prohibited all abortions in the state.

OHIO

The Director of the Ohio Department of Health, later backed by Governor Mike DeWine and Attorney General Dave Yost, sent letters to abortion providers ordering them “to immediately stop performing non-essential and elective surgical abortions.” The Governor said that only “life-saving abortions” would be allowed.

IOWA

Governor Kim Reynolds signed an order which she interpreted as banning “all surgical abortion” procedures.

Abortion providers filed suit in federal court for violating the constitutional right to abortion. Before the United States District Court issued any opinion, the parties agreed to a settlement allowing abortions to go forward if they couldn’t be postponed.