Posted on 04/08/2020 2:02:00 PM PDT by Morgana
April 8, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – The legal dispute over Texas’ inclusion of elective abortions among the non-essential procedures being suspended during the coronavirus crisis may reach the nation’s highest court sooner rather than later, with observers anticipating the United States Supreme Court may weigh in on an appeal as soon as Wednesday.
U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams and the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have advised healthcare facilities to reschedule non-urgent appointments and elective procedures, both to limit the spread of the coronavirus and to free up time and resources to focus on infected patients.
Compliance with this guidance has been mixed, leading numerous states to mandate that facilities temporarily halt “non-essential” medical procedures. Among them, Texas has declared that elective abortions will be held to the same standards as all other procedures during this time, leading to a lawsuit demanding exemptions for Planned Parenthood and other abortion centers.
Last week, Judge Lee Yeakel of the Western District of Texas issued a temporary injunction against the suspension, which was quickly stayed by the Fifth Circuit. That court went on to deem the measure constitutional on Tuesday. The Supreme Court is expected to respond to an appeal as soon as today, NBC News reports.
Key to the Fifth Circuit’s ruling was the fact that the Supreme Court had ruled in 1905’s Jacobson v. Massachusetts that constitutional rights “may be reasonably restricted to combat a public health emergency,” and has never carved out an exemption for abortion (which is not a constitutional right, but is treated as one by current judicial precedent).
While it cannot be stated with certainty how the evenly-divided justices would rule, the case may ultimately turn not on the “right” to abortion itself, but on whether the current justices agree with Jacobson’s rationale for temporary restriction of actual constitutional rights. SUBSCRIBE to LifeSite's daily headlines U.S. Canada World Catholic
In the meantime, pro-life medical professionals argue that allowing elective abortions to continue as normal puts business interests ahead of public health.
The American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG) says that while “elective abortion is neither ‘essential’ nor ‘urgent,’” it “does consume critical resources such as masks, gloves, and other personal protective equipment, and unnecessarily exposes patients and physicians to pathogens.”
“Elective abortion, both surgical and drug induced, also generates more patients to be seen in already overburdened emergency rooms,” AAPLOG continued. “Most abortion providers instruct women to go to an emergency room if they have any concerning symptoms after the abortion. Approximately five percent of women who undergo medication abortions will require evaluation in an emergency room, most commonly for hemorrhage. Surgical abortions can also result in hemorrhage. Emergency room personnel – who are already struggling to meet the demands of the COVID-19 pandemic – will be further strained to provide care to these women.”
Readers can click here for LifeSiteNews’ live updates on the coronavirus and its impact all over the world.
This could be good. The USSC would have to fabricate law out of whole cloth to selectively justify abortion as an essential medical procedure...oh wait...
Yeah. See, we've got these God-given rights? And they shall not be infringed. Unless, you know, some judge somewhere says it would be a good idea to infringe them. And by the way, although killing babies isn't exactly a God-given right, we might sort of decide that it is the most important right of all and, you know, that one is definitely not to be infringed. Unlike, say, the Second Amendment which, let's face it, doesn't matter much at all. So infringe away!
It will be interesting to see if they address other restrictions...freedom of religion, peaceably assemble, 2A, etc. it is crazy to think government can restrict everything, including rights specifically mentioned in the constitution, during an emergency except for abortion/privacy which is not mentioned. As a matter of fact, abortion is dependent upon a right to privacy. So, can the government ban family gatherings?
The logic will be epically effed.
You should consider Stand-UP.
Good one. I expect PP to win this one which sets the precedent that killing babies is an essential service.
Let me know when they review the current Governmental attacks on the First, Second and Fourth Constitutional Amendments.
My big fear is that abortions are only being postponed and these women will end up getting late term abortions. Which are much more horrific.
Make no mistake I would love it if this meant the babies were never aborted. There is also the fact that the meaning of medically necessary re abortions has pretty much been ruled to mean just about any reason given. So that will no doubt be a factor in any decisions made about whether they can proceed.
Delayed cancer treatment = someone could die
Delayed abortion = someone could live
I dont rationally see how they can win this one, but the world is upside down. If they do win, the justices will have had to contort themselves into a pretzel to find such a narrow ruling.
“The logic will be epically effed.”
Indeed!
Well if nothing else this should smoke out any pro-aborts among the 5 so-called Conservative Justices. It’s been so long since Scotus has ruled directly on an abortion case that Clarence Thomas is the only proven pro-lifer on the court.
Call me a pessimist but I just don’t think we 5 pro-lifers on the court. Hoping and praying that I’m wrong.
Prediction, we will win and they will say it’s OK to temporarily suspend some rights. The next day they will immediately start confiscating guns
“... the world is upside down.”
As foretold.
If abortion as a “constitutional right” is protected from these orders, then certainly church services would have to be, as there is actual language in the constitution. Also, this should overrule the cops just coming into your house looking for New Yorkers.
Have little confidence that Roberts will do the right thing here. Abortion is everything to the Left and the pressure will be on him to pretend that abortion magically deserves protection despite this pandemic where everything else involving people is being controlled. The fact that governments are restricting rights actually mentioned in the Constitution, like freedom of speech, assembly, religion, etc. during this dangerous time doesn’t matter to the cocktail crowd. What matters is protecting the made-up right to kill one’s unborn child even if it helps spread the virus. Sick.
No abortion is an emergency.
Libs freaking out coronoavirus may kill millions based on fake/bad models/data
Libs demanding women able to keep killing while coronavirus threat they fear is going on, based on fake idea its a constitutional right
That was a perfect “oh wait” statement - my mind was going there for a reply, as I started reading, and the itch was satisfied by the time I reached it...
I wonder how the left would react if there was a virus running rampant that was targeting the unborn and causing unintentional fetal deaths at the same rate the abortion industry has been causing intentional ones.
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