5th Circuit Court of Appeals Defeats Second District Court Restraining Order Against Texas

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's executive order temporarily banning non-essential surgical procedures includes abortion to help medical professionals conserve equipment like medical masks and stop COVID-19 from spreading in cramped abortion clinics. That order has been heavily contested by pro-abortion forces in federal courts, making its way up to the supreme court (decision pending).

District Court Judge Lee Yeakel attempted to undercut the higher courts by creating an exception to the order for chemical abortions (abortions completed using the abortion pill regiment), but the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals overruled him on Monday:

We are persuaded by Petitioners’ arguments that the district court, in the April 9 TRO [Temporary Restraining Order], disregarded our mandate in Abbott II. The court again “fail[ed] to apply . . . the framework governing emergency exercises of state authority during a public health crisis, established over 100 years ago in Jacobson v. Commonwealth of Massachusetts. … Moreover, the court again second-guessed the basic mitigation strategy underlying GA-09 (that is, the concept of “flattening the curve”), and also acted without knowing critical facts such as whether, during this pandemic, abortion providers do (or should) wear masks or other protective equipment when meeting with patients. Those errors led the district court to enter an overbroad TRO that exceeds its jurisdiction, reaches patently erroneous results, and usurps the state’s authority to craft emergency public health measures “during the escalating COVID-19 pandemic.” 

Abortion advocates claim that chemical abortions are safe and should become more available during the COVID-19 outbreak so women can access abortion while social distancing. These people disregard the reasons that the federal government requires women to see doctors and receive a prescription before buying abortion pills.

Women receive ultrasounds to ensure that chemical abortion is a "safe" abortion method for the woman. If a pregnant woman has a condition known as ectopic pregnancy, in which their unborn child is positioned outside of the uterus, chemical abortion has a high risk of complications such as hemorrhage which can lead to death.

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