State Joins Coalition Opposing Abortion Bans

SACRAMENTO – Across the country a growing number of conservative-leaning states are seeking to use the COID-19 pandemic as a reason to outlaw abortion procedures by declaring them ‘non-essential’ medical procedures. Texas is the latest state to make such a declaration and a multistate coalition has now taken to the courts in support of a group of women’s health centers who are fighting that ban. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra today joined that coalition.

In the coalition’s amicus brief, filed in the Fifth Circuit Court in New Orleans, the attorneys general argue that abortion care is an essential healthcare service and urge the Court to enjoin the executive order so that women can access needed, time-sensitive healthcare, including safe and legal abortion.

“During the COVID-19 pandemic, we should be making it easier for women to safely access time-sensitive, essential healthcare, not using a crisis as an excuse to pander to anti-choice ideology,” said Attorney General Becerra. “We’re standing with attorneys general across the country to defend women’s right to reproductive healthcare, including safe and legal abortion.”

On March 22, 2020, Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued Executive Order GA 09, “relating to hospital capacity during the COVID-19 disaster.” The Executive Order prohibits all surgeries and procedures that are not immediately medically necessary to correct a serious medical condition or to preserve a patient’s life.

In response to this Executive Order, on March 23, 2020, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a press release singling out abortion providers and suggesting that non-emergency abortions would violate the Executive Order and could be subject to criminal penalties, including jail time. This also precludes medication abortion which only involves taking medication and is neither a “surgery” nor a “procedure.”

In essence, Attorney General Paxton’s press release operates as a near-complete ban on abortion in Texas during the COVID-19 public health emergency. As a result of the Attorney General’s statements, plaintiff providers have cancelled scheduled appointments and have stopped providing all abortion care. This means that the women of Texas do not have the freedom to make a very personal decision in consultation with their medical providers.

• In the amicus brief the attorneys general argue that the executive order:

• Harms patients’ physical, emotional, and financial wellbeing, and the wellbeing of their families;

• Denies Texas women their fundamental right to determine when and whether to have a child or to add to their existing families; and

• Will force some women to travel to other states in search of services, increasing the potential for transmission of COVID-19 and the burden on state hospitals and healthcare workers.

The attorneys general of New York, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and the District of Columbia joined Attorney General Becerra in the filing.

The brief can be read in full at : https://www.oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/PP%20Choice%20FILED%20COPY.pdf