In another effort to stop abortions in the state, Ohio lawmakers are using concerns regarding the limited amount of medical supplies in hospitals during the coronavirus pandemic as a reason for women to not end pregnancies. Ohio’s Attorney General Dave Yost has ordered healthcare providers in the state to stop all “nonessential and elective surgical abortions” referring to federal guidelines in place to help conserve needed medical supplies, Vox reported. “If you or your facility do not immediately stop performing non-essential or elective surgical abortions in compliance with the [health director’s] order, the Department of Health will take all appropriate measures,” Yolt’s letter to providers reads.
The federal guidelines were issued Tuesday to cancel all “non-essential surgeries and procedures” effective 5 PM Wednesday. They did not mention abortion nor say such procedures were non-essential. The guidelines followed concerns that demands for hospital beds and equipment would exceed supply in the U.S. In a briefing, the administration asked “every American and every American hospital and healthcare facility to postpone any elective medical procedures.” While Yost is using this as an excuse to target abortion, abortion advocates are right to argue that while the medical procedures can be scheduled in advance, they are both time-sensitive and essential.
Reproductive health experts, including members of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Board of Obstetrics & Gynecology, supported abortion access in a joint statement. “The consequences of being unable to obtain an abortion profoundly impact a person’s life, health, and well-being,” they wrote. Planned Parenthood offices in Ohio also spoke up in regard to concerns of medical supplies and access to abortions. “Planned Parenthood can still continue providing essential procedures, including surgical abortion,” the organization wrote in a statement shared on Twitter, while “doing our part to conserve needed resources and to protect the health and safety of our patients and staff.”
Limiting access to abortion during a pandemic only makes matters worse, especially in a time of emphasized social distancing. Yost refuses to acknowledge the multitude of reasons that could lead to ending a pregnancy, in addition to the time-sensitivity of such procedures. Limiting access and canceling abortions would only force women to go out of their way or to travel out of state at a time where travel is discouraged. “People decide to end their pregnancies for a complex constellation of reasons that include the impact of pregnancy and birth on their health, ability to work, and strained economic circumstances. These are conditions that do not go away ― and are likely heightened — in pandemic conditions,” NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio executive director Kellie Copeland said, according to HuffPost. “Denying or delaying abortion care places an immediate burden on patients, their families, and the health system, and can have profound and lasting consequences.”
The federal order several criteria for non-essential services, including procedures that can be delayed without risking a patient's life or health, or causing a condition to worsen. While other states including Washington and Massachusetts issued similar orders pausing elective and nonessential surgeries, those states clarified that the orders did not apply to abortions, The Washington Post reported.