U.S. judge stops Texas, Ohio, Alabama from curbing abortions

Federal judges on Monday (March 30) blocked officials in Texas, Ohio and Alabama from recent bans on most abortions in those states.

The states had issued orders to postpone surgeries deemed not medically necessary during the coronavirus crisis - and included abortions among them.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton made his annoucement last week for the postponement of abortions, to preserve hospital beds and equipment.

But a U.S. district judge in Austin ruled Paxton's action prevents Texan women from quote "exercising their fundamental constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy before a fetus is viable."

The Texas lawsuit was filed last Wednesday after abortion clinics said they were forced to cancel hundreds of appointments.

In the filing, clinics argued their patients will be forced to carry pregnancies to term against their will and at risk to their health, if clinics were immediately shut down.

Abortion rights advocates have heavily criticized the state actions as political opportunism during the pandemic.

Judges in Ohio and Alabama also issued orders later on Monday blocking the states from enforcing the coronavirus-related restrictions against abortion providers.

Courts were working on an urgent basis as clinics warned that some patients were reaching the legal time limit to get the procedure.