USA – Abortion Bans Are Bad Medicine—Especially During a Pandemic

Abortion Bans Are Bad Medicine—Especially During a Pandemic

5/9/2020
by Aliza Norwood, MD and Anu Kapadia

As doctors on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are putting our lives on the line to to care for our patients. Yet while our patients and colleagues suffer, governors across the nation are using the pandemic as a political tool to ban abortions. Rather than listen to the very doctors they say they are protecting, these lawmakers are defying medical evidence and expert recommendation.

In our home state of Texas, Governor Abbott’s coronavirus-related executive order on March 22 to delay all “non-essential” surgeries and procedures was interpreted by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to include nearly all abortions. A dizzying back-and-forth battle between the AG and pro-choice groups went all the way to the Supreme Court before the state blinked and announced the ban was “over” on April 22.

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2020/05/09/abortion-bans-are-bad-medicine-especially-during-a-pandemic/