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Iowa, Ohio Sued Over Abortion Bans During Coronavirus Crisis

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) has said abortion must be halted to preserve medical supplies for coronavirus patients. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) has said abortion must be halted to preserve medical supplies for coronavirus patients. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

State officials in Iowa and Ohio were hit with lawsuits on Monday over their decisions to ban abortion during the coronavirus outbreak.

Both states recently deemed abortion a nonessential surgical procedure that must be deferred or canceled in order to preserve medical supplies for the pandemic.

Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa and Ohio are asking district courts to immediately restore abortion access, arguing that it’s an essential, time-sensitive procedure that has been improperly categorized as elective.

A growing number of states largely governed by Republicans are using the coronavirus outbreak to crack down on abortion. In addition to Ohio and Iowa, Texas and Mississippi have ordered health care facilities to stop providing abortions.

“Patients presenting for time-sensitive care, including abortion care, need timely access to treatment, even during this pandemic,” said Katherine Ragsdale, an Episcopal priest and president and CEO of the National Abortion Federation, in a statement. “Women deserve better than a craven exploitation of a health care crisis in furtherance of an anti-abortion agenda.”

Leading medical experts, such as the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology have urged state leaders to classify abortion as a time-sensitive, essential medical procedure that cannot be delayed.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) halted elective, non-essential surgeries, including surgical abortions, in an emergency proclamation issued last week. The lawsuit against Reynolds, filed by Planned Parenthood and the ACLU of Iowa, asks the court to block the proclamation as it applies to abortions.

In Ohio, Attorney General Dave Yost issued letters to at least three abortion clinics on March 20, ordering them to stop providing abortion care. The lawsuit against Yost, filed by abortion providers, the national and state branches of the ACLU and...

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