Update: The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay against the District Court’s order on Tuesday, keeping the ban in place again for now.
Original Article: Gov. Greg Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton made waves last week when they announced that, under an emergency executive order barring nonessential medical procedures in order to shore up resources to combat the Chinese coronavirus, abortions would be ceased across the state.
On Monday, however, an Austin judge put that plan to a halt.
After Planned Parenthood and other abortionists in Texas challenged the restriction, U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel issued a temporary restraining order allowing abortion mills to reopen and continue operating until at least April 13.
“Regarding a woman’s right to a pre-fetal-viability abortion, the Supreme Court has spoken clearly. There can be no outright ban on such a procedure,” said Yeakel.
“Medical professionals are in dire need of supplies, and abortion providers who refuse to follow state law are demonstrating a clear disregard for Texans suffering from this medical crisis,” said Paxton on Monday morning, prior to the court’s decision.
Texas Right to Life, the state’s oldest pro-life organization, had estimated the abortion ban could save nearly 3,000 lives.
“The lawsuit plainly shows the greediness of abortion businesses,” Texas Right to Life said after the ruling. “While health care professionals work overtime to save lives from COVID-19, abortionists consume and hoard medical supplies that are desperately needed in hospitals… not to mention increasing the death count with the abortions themselves.”
This is not the first time Yeakel has ruled in favor of infanticide. In October of 2013, Yeakel struck down restrictions on a Texas law requiring abortionists to have hospital-admitting privileges—the same legislation infamously filibustered previously by former state senator, gubernatorial candidate, and current congressional candidate Wendy Davis.
Paxton has already filed for immediate appellate review at the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
