MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama on Thursday asked an appellate court to allow it to limit abortions as part of a ban on elective medical procedures during the COVID-19 epidemic.
Attorney General Steve Marshall said the state is appealing to the 11th U.S. Circuit of Appeals seeking to overturn an injunction issued last week by a federal judge against a state health order. Alabama argued in court filings that some abortions can be safely postponed as the state tries to conserve medical equipment and fight the spread of the virus.
Similar legal fights over abortions during the pandemic are ongoing in Texas, Ohio and Oklahoma.
“My office today filed for an emergency stay of the preliminary injunction order partially blocking enforcement of the state health order while we simultaneously asked the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to hear our appeal of the federal district court ruling,” Marshall said.
Alabama had ordered a postponement of medical procedures except in cases of a medical emergency or “to avoid serious harm from an underlying condition or disease, or necessary as part of a patient’s ongoing and active treatment.” Abortion clinics in Alabama filed a lawsuit after they said the state refused to clarify that the clinics could continue to operate.
U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson last week issued a preliminary injunction sought by clinics.
The attorney general argued clinics are seeking “a special blanket exemption from the order” that is not put on other medical procedures.
“The state health order does not single out abortions or treat them differently from any other procedure. It simply requires abortion providers to follow the same regulations that apply to everyone else,” the attorney general said in a statement.