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New York Attorney General Letitia JamesBonnie Biess / Getty Images for SiriusXM

NEW YORK, April 6, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — New York Attorney General Letitia James is leading a legal battle against temporary restrictions on abortions in Texas during the coronavirus pandemic.

On March 21 Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued an Executive Order postponing any unnecessary medical procedures to preserve medical supplies for health professionals combating the spread of the coronavirus. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said that the suspension applies to “any type of abortion that is not medically necessary to preserve the life or health of the mother.”

Federal judge Lee Yeakel subsequently ruled that the abortion industry must be allowed to continue business as usual in Texas after the abortion lobby sued the state.

But Paxton filed for immediate appellate review in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which effectively put the restrictions back in place.

James announced on Twitter last week that she is now leading a group of attorney generals in legal action against the Texas order. “I’m leading 19 AGs in legal action to stop Texas from blocking nearly all abortion services & using the #coronavirus as an excuse,” she wrote.

James has also pushed for women to be able to self-abort via pill at home during the pandemic. In statement last month she said: “For those who do not feel comfortable leaving their homes as we battle COVID-19, we are fighting to maintain women’s access to abortion and the abortion pill so that their reproductive choices are not limited.” 

Along with a number of other attorneys general James co-signed a letter to federal Department of Health & Human Services chief Alex Azar, as well as FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn demanding that during the pandemic women be permitted to use online “telehealth” programs in order to be sent abortion pills via the mail rather than having to visit a medical facility in person.

The abortion pill – “medication abortion” or “chemcial abortion” – is actually two pills, one to deprive a developing pre-born baby of the nutrition he needs and then one to induce contractions. The first pill is mifepristone, the second misoprostol. Chemical abortions are used on babies younger than nine or 10 weeks old.

Pro-life medical professionals have assailed the abortion industry’s demands for special treatment since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, arguing that exempting elective abortion puts business interests 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.”

During the coronavirus outbreak, abortion facilities in some states have remained open, but pro-lifers have been arrested for praying outside of them, allegedly for violating the terms of “stay-at-home” orders.