Abortion supporters furious after Ohio shuts down ‘nonessential’ abortion providers

Mary Margaret Olohan, DCNF

Abortion supporters lashed out after Ohio ordered abortion providers to shut down in light of the coronavirus.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost on Friday sent letters to the Women’s Med Center in Dayton, Ohio and Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio’s Cincinnati Surgery Center ordering the abortion clinics to stop providing any services that require personal protective equipment, Ohio Attorney General spokeswoman Bethany McCorkle told CBS News Saturday.

The order applies to all nonsurgical procedures that use Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), McCorkle told the Daily Caller News Foundation, adding that another letter was issued to an Ohio urology group Saturday.

PPE can include respirators, eye protection, hearing protection, protective clothing, gas masks, gloves, overalls, boots, and googles, according to the CDC.

We’re here with you. pic.twitter.com/IWc4YZH33A

— Planned Parenthood (@PPSWO) March 21, 2020

“You and your facility are ordered to immediately stop performing non-essential and elective surgical abortions. Non-essential surgical abortions are those that can be delayed without undue risk to the current or future health of a patient,” the letter said.

Yost’s letter added that if the facility did not “immediately stop performing non-essential or elective surgical abortions in compliance with the [health director’s] order,” the Department of Health would take appropriate measures.

Yost agrees with Ohio Department of Health Director Amy Acton that “we can’t allow the politics of things to get in the way of what we need to do in a state of emergency,” McCorkle told the DCNF.

Abortion supporters responded to the news with anger.

“The state of Ohio has ordered abortion clinics in their state to shut down because they are non essential healthcare,” tweeted writer Lizz Winstead. “This is creating ANOTHER HEALTHCARE CRISIS. Needing an abortion is time sensitive and VERY ESSENTIAL to a person who needs one.”

Renee Bracey Sherman, an abortion writer who calls herself the “Queen of All Abortions,” tweeted that the order “IS BULLSHIT. COMPLETE AND UTTER BULLSHIT.”

THIS IS BULLSHIT. COMPLETE AND UTTER BULLSHIT.

People cannot be forced to travel out of state or wait weeks, maybe months on end, to get an abortion DURING A PANDEMIC. The anti-abortion movement is using a public health crisis to essentially ban abortion.https://t.co/CyNEkLe0KO

— Renee Bracey Sherman (@RBraceySherman) March 21, 2020

“Make no mistake: this isn’t about public health,” tweeted writer Lauren Rankin. “This is a despicable use of a global pandemic to end legal abortion in the state. Abortion is essential care––period.”

“This is an unprecedented time & people’s health & safety must be protected; but the gov’t shouldn’t use this crisis as an excuse to target clinics & try to take away the ability of Ohioans to access abortion, which is time-sensitive, essential health care,” the ACLU of Ohio tweeted.

The Huffington Post captioned the publication’s coverage of the news with the tweet, “The attorney general is using concerns about limited supplies of protective medical gear to prevent abortion access.”

“GOP and the right wing zealots in Ohio are cravenly trying to use #COVIDー19 to shut abortion clinics across the state,” National Abortion Rights Action League president Ilyse Hogue wrote in a tweet. “Even in a national crisis, they don’t stop their relentless assaults on women and pregnant people. Abortion services are essential. Clinics must stay open.”

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