The Louisiana attorney general announced an aggressive move against elective surgeries Thursday, a step he said was designed to help health officials in the coronavirus crisis but seemed sure to spark controversy as it included abortion clinics.
Attorney General Jeff Landry said he “activated a new task force” that would assist the Louisiana Department of Health as it tries to enforce a lockdown of all non-essential activity in response to the pandemic.
As of noon Thursday, Louisiana had recorded 702 deaths and 2,014 hospitalizations in its population of 4.7 million.
The health department had asked for “our assistance with enforcing their important public health orders, such as those requiring the suspension of elective, non-emergency medical procedures,” Mr. Landry said.
The task force is also accepting tips from the public if residents spot such illegal activity, Mr. Landry said. The crackdown has the support of Louisiana Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards, who has taken pro-life positions in the past.
Those tips have started launched “fact-finding examinations of several Louisiana facilities,” including “an endoscopy center in Shreveport, as well as outpatient abortion clinics in Shreveport and Baton Rouge,” Mr. Landry said, referring to two of the state’s three abortion clinics.
Like gun stores, the closure of abortion clinics have been a focus of legal skirmishes during the health emergency. In Texas as well as Louisiana, elective abortions were ruled non-essential and thus forbidden under the coronavirus shutdown orders.
“All instances of non-compliance with these important directives not only put patients and staff at risk, they also divert much needed personal protective equipment away from the brave medical professionals currently treating Louisiana’s coronavirus patients,” Mr. Landry said.
Louisiana Republican Sen. John Kennedy made a similar argument this week in urging the closure of all three of the state’s abortion providers. Abortion advocates have insisted that only the Shreveport location has stayed open providing abortions.
“Abortions are elective, deadly and wrong — especially when they siphon masks, gloves and cleaning supplies away from the front lines of a pandemic,” Mr. Kennedy said. “I urge elected officials everywhere to recognize that abortions are in no way an essential service.”
On March 21, the health department ordered all elective, non-emergency medical procedures and surgeries to be postponed. The state said it was acting in accordance with guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Planned Parenthood in New Orleans did not immediately return a phone call Thursday.
Federal judges in three states — Texas, Ohio and Alabama — blocked legislative moves to close abortion clinics there during the crisis. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that ruling in Texas, however, allowing the closures to go into effect.
• James Varney can be reached at jvarney@washingtontimes.com.
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