Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall believes that the State Health Order issued on March 27 requires abortion clinics in Alabama to temporarily cease operations. The ACLU believes abortion is an essential service, and they are suing to keep Alabama’s clinics open.
“Today, the State of Alabama is facing litigation because the State refused to grant abortion clinics a blanket exemption from the restrictions imposed by the State Health Order issued on March 27,” said Marshall in a statement.
The State Health Order issued on Friday, March 27, says that all medical procedures are temporarily banned except those “necessary to treat an emergency medical condition” or those procedures required by underlying conditions and/or ongoing treatment.
The ACLU’s Alexa Kolbi-Molinas said in a statement that “leading medical experts have recognized, abortion is essential, time-sensitive health care.”
“At a time when all Americans are making significant sacrifices to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus, it is remarkable that one class of providers demands to be treated differently than all others,” commented Marshall.
Marshall’s office also filed an amicus brief to support Texas and Ohio, which are both facing legal opposition due to similar temporary bans on abortion.
Late Monday afternoon, a federal judge appointed by George W. Bush ruled against the Texas ban, allowing abortion to continue in the Lone Star State.
According to reporting by Alabama Media Group, the abortions scheduled for Monday in Alabama were canceled.
If a federal judge in Alabama does not make a similar ruling to the one in Texas by 8:00 p.m. on Monday, then the Alabama abortions scheduled for Tuesday will be canceled as well.
Marshall believes that abortion clinics “are by no means exempt from the known risks of spreading the virus in crowded waiting rooms.”
Alabama’s attorney general went on to add that he thinks the abortion clinics would be “depleting scarce personal protective equipment that should be reserved for those treating the virus.”
Randall Marshall, head of the ACLU in Alabama, argued that preventing a pregnant woman “from getting an abortion doesn’t do anything to stop the COVID-19 virus.”
The legal proceeding by the ACLU was filed as an “emergency legal action” so a decision by a judge will most likely be delivered quickly.
Henry Thornton is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him by email: [email protected] or on Twitter @HenryThornton95.
Don’t miss out! Subscribe today to have Alabama’s leading headlines delivered to your inbox.