As COVID-19 continues to take the United States by storm, there is one unintended consequence that no one saw coming. Government officials and activists who are antiabortion are seeing the coronavirus outbreak as an opportunity to diminish the legality of abortion. Healthcare professionals are hard at work to move what would normally be in-person appointments online. And while many are pushing for the legalization of prescribed medicine to terminate pregnancies before 10 weeks at home, some states, like Ohio and Texas, are pushing back.
Many states are shutting down all services that are nonessential, including nonessential surgeries. This began a debate on whether getting an abortion is an essential surgery or not. In Ohio, the state-mandated the closure of all abortion clinics to, “preserve PPE (personal protective equipment) for health care providers who are battling the COVID-19 pandemic that is spreading in our state and also to preserve critical hospital capacity and resources.” But because of the Attorney General’s stance on abortion, some citizens in Ohio are questioning the true reasoning behind this decision. One pro-choice activism group, NARAL Pro Choice Ohio, stated, “Abortion is an essential health service. Attorney General Dave Yost and Ohio Right to Life president and State Medical Board member Mike Gonidakis should not be exploiting the COVID-19 crisis to further their agenda to close Ohio’s abortion clinics.” In addition, some argue that if the decision really isn’t about access to abortion and it is, in fact, about stopping the spread of coronavirus, those states should make at home abortion legal like they did in England.
A similar thing happened shortly after Ohio’s closure of abortion clinics in Texas. The state is banning all abortions that are not medically necessary. And while Planned Parenthood of Ohio has gone on record saying they will remain open despite the order from the Attorney General, Planned Parenthood of Texas has yet to comment. However, this has not stopped other groups in Texas from weighing in. Texas Right to Life flat out accused Planned Parenthood of fueling the pandemic saying, “The abortion industry has been consuming and hoarding medical supplies that are in desperate need around the state including masks, gloves, and other protective gear for medical professionals.”
Many states like Michigan and North Carolina have bans on elective procedures, but the ban does not extend to abortions. Anti-abortion groups are arguing that if abortion is a choice, then it is an elective procedure and should be banned nationwide during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Women from both Ohio and Texas have been filing court orders detailing their experiences and how this abortion ban has affected them. Some women were scheduled to get abortions and are now unable to because of the state’s mandate. These women are now struggling to figure out what to do, some driving over 700 miles to go to a state where they can get an abortion. Arguably this extended travel leads to more coronavirus exposure than if these women were just allowed to get an abortion in the clinic in their town.
There is also fear of some turning to D.I.Y. abortion methods. Especially in Texas where they have extremely strict abortion laws, and abortion clinics report that 7% of the women who end up there have tried to give themselves an abortion at least once before going to the clinic. This is extremely high compared to the 2.2% who report that nationwide.
Time wrote in one of their pieces on abortion in the time of coronavirus, “We didn’t act fast enough to stop COVID-19 from spreading, and we could see tens of thousands die because of that inaction. But we can stop this second health crisis from occurring just as long as we act now. Every person deserves the right to decide when and if they want to give birth. We cannot allow a pandemic strip that right away.”
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