Abortion and Coronavirus

Supreme Court mulls Texas AG ruling

When the state of Texas declared an emergency because of the COVID-19 outbreak, Attorney General Ken Paxton decided to take the order to heart.

Some say, too much so.

Paxton declared that during this public health crisis, elective abortion used too many medical resources that were needed to fight the coronavirus and treat those afflicted. So he effectively ordered a ban on all abortions — including those induced solely by medication — except in the case of immediate medical emergencies.

Naturally, the pro-choice crowd, led by Planned Parenthood, objected, saying that medication abortions — about half of all Texas abortions in 2019 — did not use resources that would aid in the fight against coronavirus. They also noted Paxton’s order violated a woman’s right to have an abortion and that forcing a woman to travel out of state for an abortion would violate the shelter-in-place directive and put her at risk of contracting the coronavirus.

And they took their case to court. Planned Parenthood won an injunction in district court against Paxton’s order in full. But the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals stayed the injunction. The pro-choice advocates narrowed their stay request and won again on the district court level — and saw the injunction again stayed by the appeals court.

So Planned Parenthood filed an emergency request asking the U.S. Supreme Court to vacate the appeals court’s stay. We will have to wait and see what the court decides.

But there’s a hitch.

Associate Justice Samuel Alito — one of the most conservative justices — handles Fifth Circuit emergency requests. That means he can, if he chooses, decide this on his own without referring the matter to the court as a whole.

So in our view, it’s unlikely Planned Parenthood can count on much sympathy from Alito or the court’s conservative majority.