5th Circuit upholds Texas abortion ban during pandemic

CBS News:
Texas can continue to legally implement its near-total ban on abortion services amid the coronavirus outbreak, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday afternoon. Abortion services in Texas have been unavailable for more than two weeks, driving some patients to seek the procedure in neighboring states or terminate their pregnancy themselves.

Per guidance from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, any abortion "not medically necessary to preserve the life or health" of the patient must be halted as part of the state's directive suspending "non-essential" medical procedures amid the coronavirus pandemic. Doctors who violate the order face "penalties of up to $1,000 or 180 days of jail time."
...
"The bottom line is this: when faced with a society-threatening epidemic, a state may implement emergency measures that curtail constitutional rights so long as the measures have at least some "real or substantial relation" to the public health crisis," Judge Duncan and Judge Elrod wrote.
...
Other circuit courts have gone the other way on this ruling so if the virus persists longer the case may eventually reach the US Supreme Court.

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