A federal judge ruled that Alabama can’t prohibit women from getting abortions during the coronavirus pandemic.
U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson issued a preliminary injunction on Easter Sunday preventing Alabama from banning abortions as an elective procedure during the COVID-19 outbreak.
“Based on the current record, the defendants’ efforts to combat COVID-19 do not outweigh the lasting harm imposed by the denial of an individual’s right to terminate her pregnancy, by an undue burden or increase in risk on patients imposed by a delayed procedure, or by the cloud of unwarranted prosecution against providers,” Thompson wrote in an opinion.
The state had previously postponed medical procedures except in cases of a medical emergency or “to avoid serious harm from an underlying condition or disease, or necessary as part of a patient’s ongoing and active treatment.”
Thompson’s ruling is a win for pro-abortion advocates who have been pushing back against states categorizing abortions as elective procedures during the pandemic. Texas, Ohio, and Alabama are among states attempting to tighten abortion access.
“Preventing someone from getting an abortion doesn’t do anything to stop the COVID-19 virus. It just takes the decision whether to have a child out of their hands,” said Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union’s Reproductive Freedom Project, which is representing abortion clinics in Alabama.
