Federal appeals court permits medication abortions to resume in Texas amid coronavirus
A federal appeals court ruled Monday that medication abortions, which are induced by taking pills, may continue in Texas — the latest in the legal battle over whether the state can ban most abortions amid the novel coronavirus’ spread.
The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling permits medication abortions to resume, which are allowed during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. And it comes days after the New Orleans-based court permitted abortions for patients who would be unable to access services during Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban on elective medical procedures due to limits on gestational age.
In Texas, abortions are banned 22 weeks past a patient’s last menstrual period. Last week’s ruling permitted patients who would have reached that limit before Abbott’s order expires on April 22 to continue to receive abortions.
Monday’s ruling is the latest in the legal saga over Texas’ ban that stemmed from Abbott’s March 22 executive order that directed healthcare providers to postpone surgeries and procedures that aren’t medically necessary to correct a serious medical condition or to preserve the life of a patient.
Abbott said the order was intended to increase hospital capacity and conserve personal protective equipment to combat the novel coronavirus’ spread. A day later, Attorney General Ken Paxton clarified that abortion providers were not exempt from the order, and said that only abortion procedures essential for the mother’s health would be permitted.
While anti-abortion groups celebrated Paxton’s interpretation, abortion providers represented by the Center for Reproductive Rights, the Lawyering Project, and Planned Parenthood Federation of America quickly followed two days later with a federal lawsuit against Texas officials in an effort to stop the state’s ban.
Back-and-forth rulings between a federal district court in Austin and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals have followed. And on Saturday, Texas abortion providers asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take emergency action to restore medical abortions services.
In the wake of Abbott’s executive order, abortion providers have canceled hundreds of procedures, and some Texans have reported traveling outside state lines in order to obtain abortions.
Other states that have passed similar restrictions on elective medical procedures have run into the same question. Officials in states like Washington and Massachusetts clarified that under their orders abortions can continue as planned, while states like Ohio and Alabama ran into legal challenges in regards to their bans.
