Statement on Governor Abbott’s Executive Order to Postpone Non-Emergency Medical Procedures

Written by Amy O’Donnell, Director of Communications

On Sunday, March 22, 2020, Governor Greg Abbott issued an Executive Order to prevent a shortage of hospital capacity or personal protective equipment which would hinder efforts to cope with the COVID-19 disaster. That executive order states that “all licensed health care professionals and all licensed health care facilities shall postpone all surgeries and procedures that are not immediately medically necessary to correct a serious medical condition of, or to preserve the life of, a patient who without immediate performance of the surgery or procedure would be at risk for serious adverse medical consequences or death…” through April 21. On Monday, March 23, 2020, Attorney General Ken Paxton’s subsequent statement clarified that order includes elective abortions.

The following statement is attributed to our Executive Director Joe Pojman, Ph.D.:

“With the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases projected to rise, healthcare providers’ highest priority must be treating patients who test positive and others whose lives are at risk.

Texas abortion providers must recognize the severity of this crisis. Doing otherwise puts them dangerously out of touch with the reality of what is happening, communicates the message that they are above the Governor’s Executive Order, and puts innocent victims of the virus at risk — patients who need immediate life-saving procedures and treatment for this virus.

We are tracking the compliance of abortion providers statewide. We ask that any who hear or know of abortions performed at abortion facilities anywhere in Texas during this time, please contact us and send any documentation you have such as parking lot photos, tweets, screenshots of websites, etc. to [email protected].

We are grateful for legislators and leaders in the state of Texas who are tirelessly working toward eradicating the coronavirus pandemic in our state.”

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