AUSTIN, Texas: A federal appeals court panel ruled that medication abortions, in which women take pills to terminate a pregnancy, can be provided in Texas during the coronavirus pandemic.
The ruling Monday from a three-judge panel of the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals was among several developments in Republican-led states where governors have sought to prohibit almost all abortions by classifying them as elective procedures that should be put off during the virus outbreak.
Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order last month that bars non-essential medical procedures so that health resources can go to treating coronavirus patients. Texas’ Republican attorney general has said that providing abortions other than for an immediate medical emergency would violate the order.
But a three-judge panel of the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals said that medication abortions can go forward. In a concurrence, Judge James L. Dennis wrote that Texas’ move to ban medication abortions “is a strong indication that the enforcement is pretextual and does not bear a ‘real or substantial relation’ to the public health crisis we are experiencing.”
A federal judge on Tuesday also blocked Arkansas’ order preventing the state’s only surgical abortion clinic from performing the procedure during the pandemic.
The state had ordered Little Rock Family Planning Services to stop performing abortions unless it was necessary to protect the life or health of the mother.
Also Monday, a 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals panel upheld a lower-court order that overturned an Oklahoma ban.
The 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals also declined to hear an appeal by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost seeking to reverse a judge’s temporary restraining order allowing abortion facilities in the state to continue performing surgical abortions.
In Louisiana, an abortion provider in Shreveport filed a federal lawsuit to block any state attempts to ban abortions during the pandemic. June Medical Group, which operates the Hope clinic, said abortions are still currently being done
The Shreveport clinic is at the center of a separate case currently at the Supreme Court over whether doctors who perform abortions must have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital.
And in Tennessee, abortion providers filed an emergency motion in federal court seeking an order that would allow them to continue providing surgical abortions.
Over the weekend, Texas abortion clinics asked the Supreme Court to step in to allow medication abortions.
Such an abortion involves taking one pill at a clinic, then taking a second pill 24 to 48 hours later, typically at home. Clinics have argued that medication abortions do not require personal protective equipment like masks, gloves and gowns that might be needed for coronavirus patients.
Texas permits medication abortions during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy.
“Now it’s time for Gov. Abbott to end his exploitation of this pandemic to ban all abortion access,” said Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights. “None of it is medically justified, all of it is unconstitutional, and women are being thrown into a state of fear and uncertainty.”
Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday on the court’s ruling.
Texas Alliance for Life issued a written statement calling on abortion providers to follow the original order to free up doctors and supplies.
“The most recent order fails to recognize the danger abortion providers pose to the public by refusing to comply with Governor Abbott’s executive order in the same way other providers of non-immediately medically necessary surgeries and procedures have done,” said Texas Alliance for Life Executive Director Joe Pojman.
Court allows medication abortions in Texas during pandemic
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Court allows medication abortions in Texas during pandemic
- A federal judge on Tuesday also blocked Arkansas’ order preventing the state’s only surgical abortion clinic from performing the procedure during the pandemic
Pakistani fighter jet crashes in Jalalabad, pilot captured: Afghan military, police
- Fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban military entered its third day on Saturday
- Pakistan’s strikes on Friday hit Taliban military installations and posts, including in Kabul and Kandahar
JALALABAD: A Pakistani jet has crashed in Jalalabad city and the pilot captured alive, the Afghan military and police said Saturday, with residents telling AFP the man parachuted from the plane before being detained.
"A Pakistani fighter jet was shot down in the sixth district of Jalalabad city, and its pilot was captured alive," police spokesman Tayeb Hammad said.
Wahidullah Mohammadi, spokesman for the military in eastern Afghanistan, confirmed the Pakistani jet was downed by Afghan forces "and the pilot was captured alive".
The AFP journalist heard a jet overhead before blasts from the direction of the airport in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province, which sits on the road between Kabul and the Pakistani border.
Fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban military entered its third day on Saturday, following overnight clashes as the international community expressed increasing concern about the conflict and called for urgent talks.
Pakistan’s strikes on Friday hit Taliban military installations and posts, including in Kabul and Kandahar, in one of the deepest Pakistani incursions into its western neighbor in years, officials said.
Islamabad accuses the Taliban of harboring Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants, who it claims are waging an insurgency inside Pakistan, a charge the Taliban denies.
Pakistan described its actions as a response to cross-border assaults, while Kabul denounced them as a breach of its sovereignty, saying it remained open to dialogue but warned any wider conflict would result in serious consequences.
The fighting has raised the risk of a protracted conflict along the rugged 2,600-kilometer frontier.
Diplomatic efforts gathered pace late on Friday as Afghanistan said its foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, spoke by telephone with Saudi Arabia’s Prince Faisal bin Farhan about reducing tensions and keeping diplomatic channels open.
The European Union called for both sides to de-escalate and engage in dialogue, while the United Nations urged an immediate end to hostilities.
Russia urged both sides to halt the clashes and return to talks, while China said it was deeply concerned and ready to help ease tensions.
The United States supports Pakistan’s right to defend itself against attacks by the Taliban, a State Department spokesperson said.
Border fighting continues
Exchanges of fire continued along the border overnight.
Pakistani security sources said an operation dubbed “Ghazab Lil Haq” was ongoing and that Pakistani forces had destroyed multiple Taliban posts and camps in several sectors. Reuters could not independently verify the claims.
Both sides have reported heavy losses with conflicting tolls that Reuters could not verify. Pakistan said 12 of its soldiers and 274 Taliban were killed while the Taliban said 13 of its fighters and 55 Pakistani soldiers died.
Taliban deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said 19 civilians were killed and 26 wounded in Khost and Paktika. Reuters could not verify the claim.
Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said “our cup of patience has overflowed” and described the fighting as “open war,” warning that Pakistan would respond to further attacks.
Taliban Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani said in a speech in Khost province that the conflict “will be very costly,” and that Afghan forces had not deployed broadly beyond those already engaged.
He said the Taliban had defeated “the world, not through technology, but through unity and solidarity,” and through “great patience and perseverance,” rather than superior military power.
Pakistan’s military capabilities far exceed those of Afghanistan, with a standing army of hundreds of thousands and a modern air force.
In stark contrast, the Taliban lacks a conventional air force and relies largely on light weaponry and ground forces.
However, the Islamist group is battle-hardened after two decades of insurgency against US-led forces before returning to power in 2021.
