Texas clinics resume abortion services as state acknowledges ban is no longer in place
Source: Texas Tribune
A ban on nearly all abortions in Texas during the coronavirus pandemic appears to be over, as clinics began offering the procedure again Wednesday and state lawyers ceded in a legal filing that there is no longer any "case or controversy."
The near-total ban has been the subject of weeks of litigation — starting in late March when Gov. Greg Abbott postponed all surgeries not “immediately medically necessary” to preserve medical resources for coronavirus patients. Attorney General Ken Paxton said the ban extended to abortions, and the politically conservative 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals largely sided with state officials.
But a new order from Abbott that took effect Wednesday allows more procedures to resume in health care facilities that agree to reserve a certain number of beds for coronavirus patients and to refrain from seeking scarce protective equipment from public sources.
Abbott demurred when asked last week if abortions could proceed under his latest directive, saying it was a decision for the courts and “not part of this order.” But abortion providers said they meet the criteria he laid out — and the state did not dispute that in its filing Wednesday.
Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2020/04/22/texas-abortions-coronavirus-ban/
The author of the article is Shannon Najmabadi.
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