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March 30, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – As states order suspensions of non-essential medical procedures in order to conserve resources and contain the spread of the coronavirus, leaders in Iowa and Kentucky are making it clear that they expect elective abortions held to the same standards as any other field.

U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams and the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have advised healthcare facilities to reschedule non-urgent appointments and elective procedures, both to limit the spread of the coronavirus and to free up time and resources to focus on patients afflicted by COVID-19 (the illness caused by the coronavirus).

Compliance with this guidance has been mixed, leading numerous states to mandate that facilities temporarily halt “non-essential” medical procedures. As debate rages across several states over whether the abortion industry should enjoy an exception to these measures, Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds and Kentucky Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron have recently declared that abortion won’t get a pass on their watch.

The suspension is about “making sure that we have the personal protective equipment to care of those Iowans who are on the front lines serving Iowans and those in need,” Reynolds said. This is to “make sure that we have our health care providers and our first responders healthy so they can take care of Iowans.” She added that, far from singling out the abortion industry, “everyone is making sacrifices.”

Cameron, meanwhile, requested that state Cabinet for Health and Family Services Acting Secretary Eric Friedlander “certify, pursuant to KRS 15.241, that Kentucky’s abortion providers are violating his ban on elective medical procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic by continuing to perform abortions,” which would “immediately trigger action by our office to stop elective procedures during the pandemic.”

“Abortion providers should join the thousands of other medical professionals across the state in ceasing elective procedures, unless the life of the mother is at risk, to protect the health of their patients and slow the spread of the coronavirus,” he declared.

So far, pro-abortion groups in Texas and Ohio have gone to the courts seeking injunctions against their states’ respective abortion suspensions, which pro-life medical professionals have criticized as putting their businesses ahead of public health. 

The American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG) says that while “elective abortion is neither ‘essential’ nor ‘urgent,’” it “does consume critical resources such as masks, gloves, and other personal protective equipment, and unnecessarily exposes patients and physicians to pathogens.”

“Elective abortion, both surgical and drug induced, also generates more patients to be seen in already overburdened emergency rooms,” AAPLOG continued. “Most abortion providers instruct women to go to an emergency room if they have any concerning symptoms after the abortion. Approximately five percent of women who undergo medication abortions will require evaluation in an emergency room, most commonly for hemorrhage. Surgical abortions can also result in hemorrhage. Emergency room personnel – who are already struggling to meet the demands of the COVID-19 pandemic – will be further strained to provide care to these women.”

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