Supreme Court wipes out lower court rulings in Texas abortion battle

The governor ordered a halt to nonessential medical procedures last year, which the attorney general then said applied to "any type of abortions."

Jan. 25, 2021
By Pete Williams

The Supreme Court handed a victory to advocates of abortion rights Monday, wiping off the books lower court rulings that had upheld a Texas order banning nearly all abortions in the state during the coronavirus pandemic.

Gov. Greg Abbott ordered a halt to nonessential medical procedures in late March to conserve hospital resources and personal protective equipment. Attorney General Ken Paxton then said the order applied to "any type of abortions," including medication abortions that do not involve surgery.

Continued: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-wipes-out-lower-court-rulings-texas-abortion-battle-n1255549

Early In The Pandemic, Texas Banned Most Abortions. After The Ban Lifted, 2nd-Trimester Abortions Jumped, A New Study Shows

Texas officials cited a need to preserve medical supplies as a reason to crack down on abortions. A new study finds that many Texans left the state during this time seeking the procedure.

SHANNON NAJMABADI, THE TEXAS TRIBUNE
POSTED ON JANUARY 4, 2021

After Gov. Greg Abbott's order that postponed all non "immediately, medically necessary" surgeries expired in May, second-trimester abortions increased 61%.

The number of Texas residents who went out of state to receive abortions leapt from 157 in February to 947 in April, after Gov. Greg Abbott ordered that all procedures not "immediately, medically necessary" be postponed to contend with the nascent coronavirus pandemic, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Continued: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/health-science/2021/01/04/388664/early-in-the-pandemic-texas-banned-most-abortions-after-the-ban-lifted-2nd-trimester-abortions-jumped-a-new-study-shows/

USA – Ted Cruz and a Bunch of GOP Senators Are Trying to Ban the Abortion Pill

They're asking the FDA to declare the pill used in about 40% of abortions an “imminent hazard to public health.”

By Carter Sherman
September 2, 2020

Sen. Ted Cruz is leading the charge on a Hail Mary plea to the Food and Drug and Administration: He wants the agency to cut off access to a pill that’s used in nearly 40% of U.S. abortions.

On Monday, the Texas Republican led a group of 20 senators in sending a letter to the commissioner of the FDA, asking the agency to take the pill mifepristone, which helps induce abortions, off the U.S. market. The senators want the pill declared an “imminent hazard to public health.”

Continued: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/7kpap4/ted-cruz-and-a-bunch-of-gop-senators-are-trying-to-ban-the-abortion-pill

Texas wants to cut women’s health services while preserving an anti-abortion program

by Shannon Najmabadi and Edgar Walters, The Texas Tribune
Monday, August 31st 2020

Texas is proposing to cut nearly $3.8 million in funding from programs that offer low-income residents access to contraceptives and breast and cervical cancer screenings, while leaving intact a robustly funded program that discourages women from having abortions.

Texas health officials proposed the cuts while taking great pains to avoid belt-tightening in most other programs that offer direct services in health care. As the coronavirus pandemic ravages parts of the economy, leaving the state with a projected $4.6 billion deficit, Gov. Greg Abbott asked state agencies to cut their spending by 5% — but largely exempted programs deemed crucial to public health.

Continued: https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/texas-wants-to-cut-womens-health-services-while-preserving-an-anti-abortion-program

Texas clinics say later abortions rose after state’s temporary ban

“It’s infuriating because you can't just turn on and off health care,” a Dallas clinic's co-medical director said.

Aug. 12, 2020
By Chloe Atkins

Several Texas clinics say they saw an uptick in women seeking abortions later in their pregnancies this spring, after the state temporarily halted most abortions amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Hundreds of abortions were canceled after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, signed an executive order on March 22 banning all nonessential medical procedures, and the state’s attorney general, Ken Paxton, said in a statement that the ban included abortions, unless a woman’s health was at risk.

Continued: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/texas-clinics-say-later-abortions-rose-after-state-s-temporary-n1236442

I Did My Own Abortion Because Texas Used COVID-19 as an Excuse to Shut Down Abortion Clinics

One woman reveals the lengths she went to in order to receive an abortion when Texas clinics closed due to the pandemic.

As told to Anna Louie Sussman
Aug 10, 2020

Shortly after Esmarie* learned she was pregnant in mid-March, the city in South Central Texas where she lives started to shut down in response to the coronavirus. Her college classes went online and she lost shifts at the two restaurants where she works, leaving her barely able to afford groceries. She knew right away that she did not want to continue the pregnancy, but feared abortion clinics would soon be shut down, too. It would be another six weeks before she was able to resolve her pregnancy with a self-managed abortion using abortion pills, which, when used as directed, have a success rate of 95 percent and are an increasingly popular option during the pandemic (one study showed a 27 percent rise in requests across the U.S., and a 94 percent increase in demand in Texas). Esmarie, 19, told us about her experience obtaining an abortion during the pandemic.

The day I found out I was pregnant, I saw all over Facebook that Texas was going to be shutting down the clinics. I thought, I’m not going to be able to have this abortion. I thought that I didn't have a choice—I was going to have to just live with it. It was very scary because I couldn't tell anybody. I was trying to get as many hours of work as I could.

Continued: https://www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/a33393312/abortion-covid-19-pandemic/

She tried to get an abortion during the pandemic. Her state wouldn’t allow it

She tried to get an abortion during the
pandemic. Her state wouldn’t allow it

(Interactive) Photographs by Glenna Gordon

Story by Kyle Almond and Benazir Wehelie, CNN
June 29, 2020

In the early days of the coronavirus
pandemic, many states put a temporary ban on elective surgeries and medical
procedures deemed nonessential. For several states, that included abortion.

It didn’t take long for abortion providers to
challenge the new restrictions. In some states, several judges blocked the
bans. Others were eventually lifted by the states themselves. But for weeks,
many women were left in limbo.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2020/06/health/abortion-access-coronavirus-cnnphotos/

USA – The Fight to Protect Abortion Access Amid the Pandemic

The Fight to Protect Abortion Access Amid the Pandemic

Jordan Smith
June 15 2020

It wasn’t much past 8 a.m. on a Saturday morning in late April, and anti-choice protesters outside the Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the only abortion clinic in Mississippi, were already cantankerous: There were three men with bullhorns, including one on top of a ladder; a 1,200-watt speaker pointing toward the clinic’s front door; and another protester blowing a shofar. “Welcome to the circus,” said Kim Gibson, a clinic escort who works to keep the mayhem away from patients.

Even as the coronavirus pandemic has gripped the nation (new cases are still on the rise in Mississippi), protesters disregarded Jackson’s stay-at-home order and have consistently failed to wear masks or keep appropriate social distance — not only from one another, but also from patients, whose cars they readily approach in an effort to “counsel” them and hand out anti-abortion propaganda.

Continued: https://theintercept.com/2020/06/15/coronavirus-pandemic-abortion-acces

15.06.2020

Commentary

Featured

abortion access during pandemic

abortion is essential healthcare

anti-choice abuse

anti-choice harassment

anti-choice hatred

anti-choice intimidation

anti-choice misogyny

anti-choice protesters

anti-choice restrictions

anti-choice violence

Coleman Boyd

Covid-19 and abortion

Derenda Hancock

Greg Abbott

Hope Medical Group for Women

Jackson Women’s Health Organization

National Abortion Federation

Pink House Defenders

Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas

Sarah Wheat

the Pink House

trust women

Very Rev. Katherine Ragsdale

Texas Nonprofit That Helps Women Pay For Abortions Sues Anti-Abortion Group For Defamation

Texas Nonprofit That Helps Women Pay For Abortions Sues Anti-Abortion Group For Defamation

By Ashley Lopez | KUT
June 12, 2020

The Texas Equal Access Fund, which provides financial support for low-income women seeking an abortion, sued anti-abortion activists in Dallas County on Thursday for accusing the group of criminal activity.
Abortions are not a crime in Texas – and neither is providing financial assistance to a private citizen for the procedure. But the Texas Equal Access Fund claims that hasn’t stopped Mark Lee Dickson and Right to Life East Texas from calling it a criminal organization.

Continued: https://www.kut.org/post/texas-nonprofit-helps-women-pay-abortions-sues-anti-abortion-group-defamation

12.06.2020

Right to Life East Texas

Tea Fund

Texas Equal Access Fund

Abortion rights groups drop suit over abortion ordinances

Abortion rights groups drop suit over abortion ordinances

by The Associated Press
Posted May 26, 2020

DALLAS — Two reproductive rights groups have dropped their lawsuit against seven small East Texas towns that had declared abortion-rights organizations “criminal organizations” in anti-abortion ordinances that prohibit them from operating within city limits.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas said Wednesday that the lawsuit had achieved its purpose of compelling the towns to revise their ordinances “to allow pro-abortion organizations to operate within the cities and stop calling them ‘criminal,'” said Imelda Mejia, spokeswoman for the ACLU of Texas.

Continued: https://www.citynews1130.com/2020/05/26/abortion-rights-groups-drop-suit-over-abortion-ordinances/