A US federal judge on Monday March 30 suspended the decision of the Texas authorities to include abortions in the list of non-emergency operations prohibited during the new coronavirus crisis. Similar court decisions have been made in two states that have taken the same action, Ohio and Alabama.
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" The United States Supreme Court has ruled very clearly " in recognizing the right of women to abort as long as the fetus is not viable, recalled in his judgment judge Lee Yeakel. “ This court is not going to speculate whether the Supreme Court has silently included a 'national-emergency-clause'. Only the Supreme Court can limit the scope of its decisions, "he added, freezing the Texan decision, pending a substantive examination of the file.
Like other states, Texas has ordered the postponement of non-emergency medical procedures to ensure the availability of hospital beds for Covid-19 patients and protective equipment for caregivers.
But, a week ago, his attorney general assured that this order also applied to abortions, except in case of danger to the life of the patient. Since then, four other conservative states, Ohio, Iowa, Alabama and Oklahoma, have followed suit.
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Denouncing an " ideological " maneuver, the defenders of the right to abortion had seized the justice urgently to block the decision of Texas. Other appeals were lodged in other states on Monday.
However, faced with the risk of being sentenced to up to 180 days in prison and $ 1,000 in fines, the Texas clinics had to close their doors, and according to them, some 100 women were unable to have an abortion. planned last week.
" It is worrying and unacceptable that states hostile to the right to abortion are exploiting the coronavirus crisis to ban abortions, " said Nancy Northup of the Center for Reproductive Rights. " Abortion is an urgent medical service, which cannot be postponed, " added Alexis McGill Johnson of the powerful Planned Parenthood association, noting that in times of health crisis, " people always have sex " and may “ need even more ” than usual family planning services. The case will not stop there: Texas intends to appeal the decision, said the attorney general.