States across the US are seeking to ban abortion during the current coronavirus emergency by classifying it as an unnecessary medical procedure, sparking legal battles nationwide.
A federal appeals court ruled this week that Texas, one of the first states to enact such a ban, can temporarily prohibit abortions from taking place. The ruling came fewer than 24 hours after a federal judge in Austin lifted the statewide restriction on abortions that went into effect after governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, signed an executive order on 22 March halting all procedures that were not “immediately medical necessary” to save a life. Attorney general Ken Paxton, a Republican, later said that abortion is included among those procedures.
The rulings come as more states try to take the same approach as Texas, and abortion rights groups are increasingly taking states to court.
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In Ohio, a federal judge sided with Planned Parenthood in its suit against the state, which was the first to bar abortions by classifying them as unnecessary medical procedures, and ordered the ban to be lifted for two weeks. In Alabama, a district court judge suspended the ban until arguments are heard from both sides next week. Lawsuits are pending in Iowa and Oklahoma.
Meanwhile in Indiana, governor Eric Holcomb, a Republican, included abortion in an executive order banning elective procedures that went into effect Wednesday.
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1/50 26 April 2020
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32/50 26 March 2020
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Members of a medical assistance team from Jiangsu province chant slogans at a ceremony marking their departure after helping with the Co-19 coronavirus recovery effort, in Wuhan. Medical teams from across China began leaving Wuhan this week after the number of new coronavirus infections dropped. China on reported no new domestic cases for the first time since it started recording them in January, but recorded a spike in infections from abroad
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AFP via Getty
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46/50 12 March 2020
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47/50 11 March 2020
Monks pray for victims of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster during a memorial service on the coast in Iwaki, Fukushima. Japan marked the ninth anniversary of the killer tsunami that triggered the Fukushima nuclear meltdown, but fears about the new coronavirus forced a scaling back of public commemorations
Jiji Press/AFP via Getty
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AFP/Getty
49/50 9 March 2020
Medical staff celebrate after all patients were discharged at a temporary hospital set up to treat people with the COVID-19 coronavirus in Wuhan in China
AFP/Getty
50/50 8 March 2020
A hundred members of the conservative activist group called Manif pour Tous (“Protest for Everyone”) dressed as Marianne, French Republic’s allegory, stage a protest against assisted reproductive technology (ART) and surrogacy in front of the National Assembly in Paris, France
AFP/Getty
1/50 26 April 2020
People wearing protective face masks practice social distancing as they pray outside a church in Kiev near the memorial dedicated to firefighters and workers who died after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, on the 34th anniversary of the event
Reuters
2/50 25 April 2020
Surfers walk during a sunrise at Recreio dos Bandeirantes beach, amid the coronavirus outbreak, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Reuters
3/50 24 April 2020
Inmates from Villa Devoto prison take part in a riot demanding measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus after a case was confirmed inside the prison, in Buenos Aires
AFP via Getty
4/50 23 April 2020
The cruise ship Ruby Princess departs from Port Kembla, south of Sydney, , after a few hundred virus-free crew members disembarked to begin the process of repatriation to their home countries
AFP/Getty
5/50 22 April 2020
An activist performs on the roof during Earth Day in Wroclaw, Poland
Agencja Gazeta via Reuters
6/50 21 April 2020
Malaysian army personnel set up barbed wire in the locked down area of Selayang wholesale market in Kuala Lumpur
EPA
7/50 20 April 2020
A trader walks inside a pen as he arrives to purchase vegetables and fruits at the Agricultural Produce Market Committee market in Navi Mumbai during the nationwide lockdown
AFP via Getty
8/50 19 April 2020
A bride, poses for a wedding photographer next to East Lake in Wuhan
AFP via Getty
9/50 18 April 2020
People shout at police officers during a demonstration of conspiracy theorists as other demonstrators protest against the lockdown imposed to slow the spread of the coronavirus in Berlin
Reuters
10/50 17 April 2020
A pair of rare morepork owl chicks have become the first in more than a decade to survive on Norfolk Island, in the South Pacific
Parks Australia/Monash University
11/50 16 April 2020
A squirrel runs across a fence as the sun shines in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district
AFP via Getty
12/50 15 April 2020
Election officials count after general election voting in Seoul, South Korea
EPA
13/50 14 April 2020
Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, which was damaged in a devastating fire one year ago today
Reuters
14/50 13 April 2020
Wild bluebells, which bloom around mid-April turning the forest blue as they form a carpet, pictured in the Hallerbos in Belgium
Reuters
15/50 12 April 2020
Pope Francis delivers his Urbi et Orbi message following Easter Sunday Mass behind closed doors at St Peter’s Basilica in The Vatican, during the country’s lockdown
Vatican media/AFP via Getty
16/50 11 April 2020
A man watches Krakatau spewing ash during an eruption, in Serang, Indonesia’s Banten province
AFP via Getty
17/50 10 April 2020
Women queue for distribution of food for those suffering under Kenya’s coronavirus-related movement restrictions
AP
18/50 9 April 2020
Firefighter Sittiporn Singthong, dressed up as Spider-Man, sprays disinfectant at the Wat Tha Mai Buddhist temple in Samut Sakhon province, Thailand
EPA
19/50 8 April 2020
Tulip fields in Plomeur, western France
AFP via Getty
20/50 7 April 2020
A employee and a resident of the house for the elderly “De Ravenstein” react as nurses dance and sing in the garden, following the coronavirus disease outbreak, in Boortmeerbeek, Belgium
Reuters
21/50 6 April 2020
A man stands in the balcony of his home with the moon in the background in Cali, Colombia
AFP via Getty
22/50 5 April 2020
A man holds a traditional lamp from the balcony of his house as torches and candles illuminate houses and high rise residential buildings as Indians mark the country’s fight against the coronavirus pandemic a suburb of New Delhi, India
AP
23/50 4 April 2020
Medical staff load an infected patient into an ambulance at the Nimes air base, south of France, during an evacuation operation from the hard-hit east of the country where hospitals are overwhelmed
AFP
24/50 3 April 2020
A man prays inside the closed Moussawi Grand Mosque in Basra
AFP via Getty
25/50 2 April 2020
A City Hall health official wearing a protective suit sprays disinfectant at the entrance of City One condominium as the residential building was placed under lockdown after 17 cases of COVID-19 were detected, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
EPA
26/50 1 April 2020
Migrant workers wait on marked areas on the ground to maintain social distancing as they queue to receive food packets at an industrial area during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure against the Co-19 coronavirus, in Chennai
AFP via Getty
27/50 31 March 2020
Wedding dress and evening wear designer Friederike Jorzig adjusts a mannequin wearing a wedding dress with matching protective mask in her store Chiton in Berlin
AFP via Getty
28/50 30 March 2020
A stray dog walks in front of an empty historic India Gate, as nationwide lockdown continues over the coronavirus in New Delhi, India
Getty
29/50 29 March 2020
A man watches a TV screen showing a file image of North Korea’s missile launch during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul
AP
30/50 28 March 2020
Hong Kong’s skyline is seen with some of its lights turned off to mark the Earth Hour, an environmental campaign
AFP/Getty
31/50 27 March 2020
Ukrainian citizens queue at the Polish-Ukrainian border during the coronavirus pandemic in Korczowa, Poland. On 13 March, Poland closed its borders due to the ongoing pandemic of the Co-19 and has extended the measure until at least 11 April
EPA
32/50 26 March 2020
Tenon hospital emergency services staff members gesture during a break, on March 26, 2020 in Paris, as the country is under lockdown to stop the spread of Co-19 disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
AFP via Getty
33/50 25 March 2020
Aerial view showing almost empty streets in Bogota, taken during the lockdown ordered by the government to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus
AFP via Getty
34/50 24 March 2020
Staff members line up to attention as they prepare to spray disinfectant at Wuhan Railway Station. China announced that a lockdown would be lifted on more than 50 million people in central Hubei province where the Co-19 coronavirus first emerged late last year
AFP via Getty
35/50 23 March 2020
A public order agency officer sprays disinfectant over a woman before she enters a local government office as a precautionary move against the spread of the Co-19 coronavirus in Surabaya
AFP via Getty
36/50 22 March 2020
Boys wearing protective and N95 masks play with a football outside their homes in Gaza City
AFP via Getty
37/50 21 March 2020
A woman standing on her balcony reaches out to catch a rose delivered to her via a drone on Mother’s day, in the Lebanese coastal city of Jounieh, north of the capital Beirut, as people remain indoors in an effort to limit the spread of coronavirus. In a quiet Lebanese town under lockdown over the novel coronavirus, a drone buzzed towards a balcony on Saturday to deliver a red rose to a mother grinning in surprise. The COVID-19 pandemic may have put a damper on Mother’s Day this year, but three students have come up with a novel service to celebrate the occasion without flouting social distancing restrictions
AFP via Getty
38/50 20 March 2020
Newlyweds Diego Fernandes, 46 and Deni Salgado, 30, kiss through protective face masks at a wedding ceremony with only witnesses and no guests, as public gatherings are banned as part of Italy’s lockdown measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease in Naples
Reuters
39/50 19 March 2020
Members of a medical assistance team from Jiangsu province chant slogans at a ceremony marking their departure after helping with the Co-19 coronavirus recovery effort, in Wuhan. Medical teams from across China began leaving Wuhan this week after the number of new coronavirus infections dropped. China on reported no new domestic cases for the first time since it started recording them in January, but recorded a spike in infections from abroad
AFP via Getty
40/50 18 March 2020
Sri Lankan police wear face masks a rehearsal parade in Colombo
AFP via Getty
41/50 17 March 2020
Divers clean and swipe the floor and walls of a pool at an aquatic complex in Medellin after the closure of all sporting venues in Colombia as a preventive measure against the spread of the Co-19
AFP via Getty
42/50 16 March 2020
Workers spray disinfectant as a precaution against the spread of coronavirus at the Mubarikiya market following the outbreak of coronavirus, in Kuwait City
EPA
43/50 15 March 2020
People gather with their belongings at the scene of the fire outbreak at Abule-Ado in Lagos, Nigeria
Reuters
44/50 14 March 2020
A man feeds pidgeons at Cataluna Square in Barcelona
EPA
45/50 13 March 2020
A mosso de esquadra police officer stands on the closed off road near Igualada, Spain. Over 60,000 people awoke Friday in four towns near Barcelona confined to their homes and with police blocking roads. The order by regional authorities in Catalonia is Spain’s first mandatory lockdown as Co-19 coronavirus infections increase sharply
AP
46/50 12 March 2020
Italian mechanics Giacomo and Alessandro pose at their garage in Rome, as Italy shut all stores except for pharmacies and food shops in a desperate bid to halt the spread of a coronavirus that has killed 827 in the the country in just over two weeks
AFP via Getty
47/50 11 March 2020
Monks pray for victims of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster during a memorial service on the coast in Iwaki, Fukushima. Japan marked the ninth anniversary of the killer tsunami that triggered the Fukushima nuclear meltdown, but fears about the new coronavirus forced a scaling back of public commemorations
Jiji Press/AFP via Getty
48/50 10 March 2020
Revellers dance as they celebrate Holi, the spring festival of colours in Allahabad
AFP/Getty
49/50 9 March 2020
Medical staff celebrate after all patients were discharged at a temporary hospital set up to treat people with the COVID-19 coronavirus in Wuhan in China
AFP/Getty
50/50 8 March 2020
A hundred members of the conservative activist group called Manif pour Tous (“Protest for Everyone”) dressed as Marianne, French Republic’s allegory, stage a protest against assisted reproductive technology (ART) and surrogacy in front of the National Assembly in Paris, France
AFP/Getty
Kentucky attorney general Daniel Cameron said last week that he believes abortion should be part of a ban on unnecessary medical procedures, as did Mississippi governor Tate Reeves and Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt, both Republicans.
“This lawsuit, from Planned Parenthood and other pro-abortion groups, demands an exception to prioritise abortion over all other health care in the midst of the Co-19 emergency in our state,” Oklahoma attorney general Mike Hunter said in a statement, referring to the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
“It attacks the governor’s executive order which preserves limited health care resources and medical safety equipment, in blatant disregard of the escalating illness and death this pandemic is inflicting on Oklahomans,” he said.
Abortion proers said they are also ready for a protracted legal battle.
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“I can say we are going to be taking every legal option we have to keep the clinics open and if that means filing for extreme relief at the Supreme Court, that’s what we will do,” said Nancy Northup, CEO of the Centre for Reproductive Rights.
Abortion rights advocates said harassment against abortion proers has increased in recent days and protesters are coughing in the faces of patients and staff.
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In the Texas case, attorney generals in 13 other states led by Louisiana’s Jeffrey Landry, a Republican, submitted a “friend-of-the-court” amicus brief this week to the 5th Circuit Court, saying they are concerned the case is a threat to the executive power of governors to protect public health.
“It’s a matter of gubernatorial authority in a public health crisis to conserve resources,” said Indiana attorney general Curtis Hill, a Republican who signed the brief and is running for re-election. “Gubernatorial authority proes the temporary relief from certain constitutional liberties. It’s not comfortable and I don’t like it but courts must recognise the right to take these actions.”
Abortion proers and lawyers representing them said the states are taking advantage of a health crisis to limit access to abortion.
“The pandemic is an excuse to do something that they’ve tried to do for years,” said Rupali Sharma of the Lawyering Project, which is part of the legal team sueing Texas.
Mr Paxton argued in court filings that abortion clinics should not be exempted from the governor’s emergency order – which he interpreted as a ban on all types of abortion – to preserve the limited health-care resources they need to fight the virus’s spread.
Abortion proers told the court that Texas’s restrictions do not achieve its goal because surgical abortion requires the use of little protective equipment and medical abortions consist of giving a patient pills often taken at home. The prescription leads to a miscarriage and is available in Texas through the 10th week of pregnancy.
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District judge Lee Yeakel issued a temporary restraining order on Monday, agreeing with proers that a virtual ban would be unconstitutional but declined to speculate on whether the US Supreme Court ruling carved out an special exception for health emergencies.
Within hours of that decision, Texas’s attorney general petitioned the three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in New Orleans – considered the most conservative federal appellate court – to stay that order. It covers Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi.
“It’s apparent now more than ever that they are using women as pawns and disregarding the lives of the people in clinics who have now been rescheduled twice,” said Amy Hagstrom Miller of Texas-based abortion proer Whole Woman’s Health. “My staff has been put in position to deny women their constitutional rights.”
The 5th Circuit rarely blocks state attempts to restrict abortion, intervening in recent years only when laws operate as an outright ban on the procedure. The court approved a Texas law that imposed restrictions on doctors who perform abortions and heightened requirements on abortion clinics. It was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2016.
Two of the three judges stayed the lower court’s order; dissenting Circuit Court judge James Dennis indicated that Mr Paxton went too far in saying in his news release that all abortion procedures, including medical abortions, are prohibited because there is no use of medical equipment in that procedure.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the anti-abortion Susan B Anthony List, praised the court’s decision.
“At a time when millions of Americans are making heroic sacrifices to protect the vulnerable, and legitimate health care workers risk their own lives to care for Co-19 patients with crucial protective equipment in short supply, the abortion industry demands special treatment,” she said.
Abortion rights advocates said women who are forced to carry a pregnancy to term will eventually take up more hospital resources when they require need pre- and postnatal care. Abortions, advocates said, are normally in-office procedures that don’t require masks and rarely result in complications. They argued that delaying the procedure could force women to travel and help spread Co-19 further.
“It is a sign that they will stop at nothing to stop abortion care. They can’t help themselves,” Jennifer Devlan, director of the ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Project. “There’s no way this is motivated by public health. It’s not grounded in science but in politics.”
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