A federal appeals court on Monday upheld a lower-court order that overturned the Oklahoma governor’s ban on abortions during the coronavirus outbreak. Also Monday, a different federal appeals court allowed medication abortions to continue in Texas despite a near-total abortion ban there amid the pandemic.
The unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel of the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allows abortions to continue in Oklahoma, the ban issued by Gov. Kevin Stitt notwithstanding. In an eight-page opinion, the panel said it was letting stand a temporary restraining order issued April 6 by U.S. District Judge Charles Goodwin in Oklahoma City because it caused the state no irreparable harm, since Goodwin’s order expires April 20.
The ban was part of an executive order Stitt issued March 27 that banned all elective surgeries during the coronavirus outbreak. On April 3, Stitt extended the April 7 scheduled expiration of the ban until April 30.
There was no immediate comment from Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter’s office.
Governors across the country have issued executive orders halting nonessential medical surgeries to free up hospitals and medical equpiment, and Republicans have said abortions should be included under those mandates. Those bans, including Oklahoma’s, were challenged in court by Planned Parenthood, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Center for Reproductive Rights and local lawyers in each state.
In a statement, Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said “It’s time for Oklahoma and other states to stop exploiting the pandemic to shutdown clinics. Oklahoma’s true motive has never been more apparent. This has nothing to do with the current pandemic – it’s purely politics.”
A federal judge temporarily blocked a ban in Texas last week but the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Court of Appeals quickly put that ruling on hold, pending a review of the case. U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel of Austin, Texas, followed up with an order allowing abortions in Texas by medication or in cases where a delay in the procedure would push a pregnancy beyond the state’s 22-week legal cutoff. However, the 5th Circuit Court upheld the ban on abortions by medication.
That ruling has now been superseded by Monday’s, in which the 5th Circuit permitted abortions induced by women swallowing pills to continue.
Challengers of Texas’ curbs say medication abortion shouldn’t be stopped halted because it’s not a procedure at all and doesn’t require the use of protective equipment, the Reuters news service explains.
In an unsigned opinion, the three-judge panel said it wasn’t clear if the emergency order restricting abortions in Texas included medication-induced abortions.
Texas’ ban may soon be in front of the United States Supreme Court, reports CBS News’ Kate Smith.
On Saturday afternoon, a coalition of abortion rights groups challenging the state’s suspension of abortion services filed for an emergency stay, requesting that the high court block the federal appeals court’s decision upholding most of the ban.
It was unclear what effect Monday’s ruling would have on that request.
