Indiana Governor Issues Order For Physicians to Cancel or Postpone 'Elective and Non-Urgent' Procedures- Including Abortion

Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb

Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb signed an executive order Monday requiring that 'elective and non-urgent' medical procedures be postponed or canceled to slow the spread of COVID-19 and preserve personal protective equipment for doctors treating patients with COVID-19. This order includes elective abortions.

The executive order applies to all kinds of non-essential procedures, but it does provide a list of examples in writing: "health care facilities, whether hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, dental facilities, plastic surgery centers, dermatology offices and abortion clinics" will all be affected.

"We're living in and through an 'all hands on deck' moment if I've ever seen one and it is unifying our state in ways that I could not imagine," Holcomb said regarding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. He also specifically called out abortion clinics again in a statement; making it clear that he was not going to allow clinics to define their own services as "essential": "I directed all healthcare facilities — hospitals, surgical centers, veterinarians, dermatologists, yes, abortion clinics — to cancel all elective or non-urgent procedures."

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