By Caroline Kelly
Judge Lee Yeakel blocked the state from enforcing the order specifically “as a categorical ban on all abortions provided by Plaintiffs” and specifically against those providing medication abortions or providing surgical abortions to abortion-seekers who would reach 22 weeks since their last menstrual period — the cutoff to receive an abortion in Texas — by the order’s expiration on April 21.
The ruling would also apply to surgical abortions performed on those who, by April 21, would reach 18 weeks since their last menstrual period, rendering them eligible for abortions only at ambulatory surgery centers, and would be “likely unable to reach an ambulatory surgical center in Texas or to obtain abortion care,” Yeakel wrote.”
As a minimum, this is an undue burden on a woman’s right to a pre-viability abortion,” he wrote Thursday.
The ruling marks another turn in a case that has bounced back and forth between courts that reach opposite conclusions, blurring the lines as to what forms of the procedure have been allowed in Texas and when.
State officials have opted to include elective abortions in an order limiting medical procedures during the coronavirus outbreak, pointing to the need to conserve personal protective equipment. Abortion rights supporters have criticized the move as politically motivated.
On Tuesday, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Texas and allowed the order to remain in effect, wiping away Yeakel’s opinion from last week that blocked the order. The conflicting rulings tee up a potential Supreme Court battle.
But Yeakel on Thursday granted abortions rights groups’ petition for another temporary block after the appeals court’s ruling.
For abortion seekers who would reach 22 weeks since their last menstrual period by the order’s expiration on April 21, “the Executive Order is an absolute ban on abortion,” Yeakel wrote.
“When a temporary delay reaches 22 weeks LMP, the ban is not temporary, it is absolute,” he added. “A ban within a limited period becomes a total ban when that period expires.
“The back-and-forth court decisions began after Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott last month barred “all surgeries and procedures that are not immediately necessary,” effective immediately.