Pro-life groups on Monday issued statements of support for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order to halt abortions as non-essential during the coronavirus pandemic, a directive that appears headed for the Supreme Court.
“The fact that the abortion industry is continuing its attempt to exploit the coronavirus crisis in order to stay open is absolutely deplorable,” the Justice Foundation and Operation Outcry said Monday in a statement.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony Foundation, said that as health care workers deal with equipment shortages and risk their lives during the COVID-19 pandemic, “the abortion industry led by Planned Parenthood demands special treatment and diverts scarce resources.”
On Friday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit upheld Mr. Abbott’s executive order, which bans nearly all abortions.
In the majority opinion for the 2-1 ruling, Judges Stuart Kyle Duncan and Jennifer Walker Elrod said that amid “a society-threatening epidemic, a state may implement emergency measures that curtail constitutional rights so long as the measures have at least some ’real or substantial relation’ to the public health crisis and are not ’beyond all question, a plain, palpable invasion of rights secured by the fundamental law.’”
Judge Duncan was appointed by President Trump and Judge Elrod by President George W. Bush.
The appellate court ruling overturned a decision by U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel, a Bush appointee.
“Regarding a woman’s right to a prefetal-viability abortion, the Supreme Court has spoken clearly. There can be no outright ban on such a procedure,” Judge Yeakel said.
Mr. Abbott has defended barring any procedures during the pandemic that are not “immediately medically necessary” — including abortions — on the basis of preserving much-needed personal protective equipment.
Other states such as Ohio, Alabama, Iowa, Oklahoma and Mississippi have enacted similar bans during the coronavirus crisis. But in many instances, federal courts have declared aspects of the executive orders dealing with abortion to be nullified.
Attorneys for Planned Parenthood, the Center for Reproductive Rights and the Lawyering Project filed a lawsuit against Texas officials, arguing that only Texas’ law singles out abortion prohibitions in the plain-text order.
“Accordingly, Texas now has the most restrictive abortion policy in the nation,” the attorneys wrote, filing the lawsuit on behalf of pro-choice advocates.
Since Mr. Abbott’s executive order was issued on March 23, hundreds of pregnant people who were seeking abortions have been turned away, the lawsuit states.
What’s more, the attorneys argue, it is misleading to assert that abortions must be halted in order to save personal protective equipment, which has been in short supply across the country during the pandemic.
“[I]ndividuals will require more health care … if they remain pregnant than if they have a desired abortion, and some will engage in risky, out-of-state travel in an attempt to access earlier abortion services,” says the lawsuit, filed by counsel of record, Julie A. Murray.
Mr. Abbott’s executive order is scheduled to expire on April 22, but it could be extended, as the coronavirus continues to spread across the state.
The emergency request for an appeal by abortion providers to the Supreme Court was directed toward Justice Samuel A. Alito, who likely will refer the appeal request to the full court, court observers said.
Meanwhile, a federal judge in Alabama ruled Sunday that the state cannot ban abortions as part of its response to the coronavirus.
“Based on the current record, the defendants’ efforts to combat COVID-19 do not outweigh the lasting harm imposed by the denial of an individual’s right to terminate her pregnancy, by an undue burden or increase in risk on patients imposed by a delayed procedure, or by the cloud of unwanted prosecution against providers,” U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson wrote in issuing a preliminary injunction sought by clinics to prevent the state from including abortion in a ban on elective procedures.
Last month, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists had called for abortion care to be considered “an essential component” of health care during the pandemic.
• Christopher Vondracek can be reached at cvondracek@washingtontimes.com.
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