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| Texas and Ohio Include Abortion as Medical Procedures That Must Be Delayed | Texas and Ohio Include Abortion as Medical Procedures That Must Be Delayed |
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| Texas and Ohio have included abortions among the nonessential surgeries and medical procedures that they are requiring to be delayed, setting off a new front in the fight over abortion rights in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States. | Texas and Ohio have included abortions among the nonessential surgeries and medical procedures that they are requiring to be delayed, setting off a new front in the fight over abortion rights in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States. |
| Both states said they were trying to preserve extremely precious protective equipment for health care workers and to make space for a potential flood of coronavirus patients. | |
| But abortion rights activists said that abortions should be counted as essential and that people could not wait for the procedure until the pandemic was over. | |
| On Monday, Ken Paxton, the attorney general of Texas, clarified that the postponement of surgeries and medical procedures announced by Gov. Greg Abbott over the weekend included “any type of abortion that is not medically necessary to preserve the life or health of the mother.” | |
| Failure to do so, he said, could result in penalties of up to $1,000 or 180 days of jail time. It was not immediately clear if that included medication abortion, which involves providers administering pills in the earlier stages of pregnancy. | Failure to do so, he said, could result in penalties of up to $1,000 or 180 days of jail time. It was not immediately clear if that included medication abortion, which involves providers administering pills in the earlier stages of pregnancy. |
| The move followed a similar action by health authorities in Ohio last week and has prompted a legal scramble by abortion rights groups to preserve access. Activists accused state leaders of using the coronavirus crisis to advance a political agenda to restrict abortions. They pointed out that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, a respected society of medical professionals, recommended last week that abortion not be included in the list of medical procedures that could potentially be postponed. | |
| “Instead of trying to distract with ideology, state lawmakers should focus on prioritizing public health and safety measures,” said Tara Pohlmeyer, communications manager at Progress Texas, a group that supports abortion rights. | “Instead of trying to distract with ideology, state lawmakers should focus on prioritizing public health and safety measures,” said Tara Pohlmeyer, communications manager at Progress Texas, a group that supports abortion rights. |
| The states, for their part, said they were trying to protect public health and preserve critical medical equipment at a time when the country’s health infrastructure is in danger of being overwhelmed. Mr. Paxton said in his statement that routine dermatologic, ophthalmological and dental procedures, as well as orthopedic surgeries, were also included. | |
| “The bottom line is, these abortions must be delayed,” said Joe Pojman, executive director of Texas Alliance for Life, one of the state’s main anti-abortion groups. He said Texas was not “singling out any particular procedure or any segment of the health care industry.” | “The bottom line is, these abortions must be delayed,” said Joe Pojman, executive director of Texas Alliance for Life, one of the state’s main anti-abortion groups. He said Texas was not “singling out any particular procedure or any segment of the health care industry.” |
| The announcement in Texas on Monday sent abortion rights advocates and their lawyers racing to determine how likely it was that clinics would need to stop abortion services. | |
| “We are still waiting for various legal teams and local providers to work through what it means,” said the Very Rev. Katherine Hancock Ragsdale, president of the National Abortion Federation. | |
| Texas has a history of being on the vanguard of reducing abortion access. The last major Supreme Court decision on abortion, in 2016, involved a restrictive law in Texas. But it was still not clear on Monday night whether the state’s abortion clinics would stop providing services. Some seemed determined to continue. | |
| “Patients cannot wait until this pandemic is over to receive safe abortion care,” Amy Hagstrom Miller, president of Whole Woman’s Health, the abortion clinic at the center of the Supreme Court decision, said in a statement. | |
| In Ohio, where anti-abortion activists have gained influence in recent years, health authorities issued an order to postpone all nonessential surgeries beginning at 5 p.m. Wednesday. On Friday and Saturday, the office of the state’s attorney general sent warning letters to abortion clinics in Dayton, Cincinnati and Cleveland, telling them to “immediately stop performing nonessential and elective surgical abortions.” | |
| A spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office, Bethany McCorkle, said the letters were based on complaints that had come to Ohio’s Department of Health. At least one came from Ohio Right to Life, an anti-abortion advocacy group, said its president, Michael Gonidakis. | A spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office, Bethany McCorkle, said the letters were based on complaints that had come to Ohio’s Department of Health. At least one came from Ohio Right to Life, an anti-abortion advocacy group, said its president, Michael Gonidakis. |
| In an email blast to supporters on Saturday, Mr. Gonidakis said he had sent a letter to Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio, warning its president, Iris E. Harvey, that “by performing surgical abortions, your company is putting the health and safety of all Ohioans in danger.” | |
| For now, though, the state’s abortion clinics remain open. Lawyers for several of them argued to the state’s attorney general, Dave Yost, that abortions were in fact essential surgical procedures and that the clinics had no intention of stopping. | |
| “Our doors remain open,” Chrisse France, president of Preterm, an abortion clinic in Cleveland, said on Monday. Ms. Harvey and Kersha Deibel, president of Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region, said the same. | |
| Louisiana was another state to issue an order over the weekend saying that nonessential medical procedures would be delayed. An anti-abortion group, Louisiana Right to Life, put out a statement on Monday saying that Hope Medical Group, one of the last remaining abortion providers in the state, was closed. But Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which represents the clinic, denied that. | |
| “Our client Hope Medical Group is still open,” Ms. Northup said in a statement. | |
| Manny Fernandez contributed reporting from Texas. | Manny Fernandez contributed reporting from Texas. |