AUSTIN — Texas abortion providers are withdrawing their request for a preliminary injunction to block the state from enforcing executive orders requiring elective medical procedures to be postponed during the coronavirus pandemic.
The motion Thursday comes a day after the state attorneys said in a legal filing that the state’s latest executive order includes exemptions providers can comply with to continue providing abortions, ending the near-total abortion ban that has been litigated in courts for the past month.
The March 22 gubernatorial executive order that spurred the heated legal battle over whether abortions can be banned during the COVID-19 pandemic expired Tuesday, so clinics throughout Texas began offering abortions again Wednesday.
But it is unclear if abortion providers will drop the lawsuit altogether. The motion for withdrawal says the plaintiffs intend to reach out to the state’s attorneys to “discuss the status of the case and will submit a proposed way forward" to U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel.
When asked about the status of the lawsuit, Amy Hagstrom Miller, CEO and president of Whole Woman’s Health clinics, said earlier Thursday that she was “pleased to see this legal whiplash come to an end.”
“For the past month, our patients were pawns in a cruel game played by the governor and attorney general and it was unconscionable," she said in a statement. "Our staff had to cancel hundreds of appointments and we heard the anguish and despair that our patients went through. Texans must never forget the events of this past month. Abortion is essential healthcare.”
Abbott’s new order on elective procedures was issued last week and is in effect until May 8. It includes new exceptions allowing elective procedures to be conducted if they won’t deplete or limit hospital capacity or supplies of personal protective equipment such as masks.
The exceptions were added to ease restrictions for patients “who without timely performance of the surgery or procedure would be at risk for serious adverse medical consequences." Abbott said at a news conference last week that whether the restrictions for abortions were eased would be a “decision for courts to make."
But in a Wednesday legal filing, state attorneys conceded that the suing providers met the new exemptions.
"There is no case or controversy remaining, as Plaintiffs have already certified they are in compliance with an exception,” they wrote.
A spokeswoman for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office on Thursday said the governor’s latest order does not include specific exemptions for abortion providers, but confirmed that providers such as Planned Parenthood met the new exceptions.
“Our office does not interpret rules or regulations, we defend the State in lawsuits. We will continue to defend Governor Abbott’s executive orders,” Kayleigh Date said in an email. “Planned Parenthood submitted the certifications required by GA-15, and therefore are not at risk of enforcement.”
But those who don’t comply with the order and don’t meet the exemptions could still face a fine of $1,000 or up to 180 days in jail, she said.
