More than half a dozen states have tried to ban abortion during the coronavirus outbreak as an elective procedure.
, but withdrew their appeal this week after a circuit court allowed some abortions to proceed. Providers in Arkansas and Tennessee also sued to stop bans there this week, which could end up at the high court. Meanwhile, women whose appointments have been canceled have tried to self-induce miscarriages or driven hundreds of miles to out-of-state clinics, expensive and risky travel.
They and other abortion clinics rely on doctors from out of state whose flights were limited or canceled after the outbreak. Some clinics limited their hours, stopped providing surgical abortions or closed. Others like Trust Women found doctors to volunteer. Staff have to wear added masks and screen potential patients for symptoms of COVID-19. Three times as many patients showed up for appointments in Wichita this week, up to 45 a day, the lowest no-show rate clinic staff can remember.
“It’s exposing people to COVID under the guise of protecting their health,” she said. “People are desperate.”Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains saw twice as many patients from Texas at the end of March because of the state ban, said President and CEO Vicki Cowart. While they have increased telemedicine to provide medication abortions by mail, they can’t do it in Texas.
“They told me to keep this [appointment] because Oklahoma keeps going back and forth,” she said — most recently when a circuit court Monday allowed clinics to dispense abortion medication. Another Texas woman came to the clinic that day because her husband had just been fired, they paid their mortgage this month with savings and were afraid they might soon become homeless. She had wanted a baby, and cried as she showed the doctor pictures of her 4-year-old son. The doctor wanted to hug her, but couldn’t because of social distancing.“The pandemic is making these decisions even more complicated for people,” Dr. Angela Marchin said.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Coronavirus update: 1.94 million cases worldwide, 121,726 deaths; and Trump goes into battle with state governorsAn apparent slowdown in deaths and hospitalizations from the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 the U.S. epicenter New York weighed against a grim forecast for...
Read more »
Death toll in New York state climbs to 10,834The number of coronavirus deaths in New York state has climbed to 10,834, Gov. Cuomo says, with more than 770 deaths recorded in the past 24 hours.
Read more »
Doctors worry as populous Indian state struggles with coronavirus testsDoctors say authorities in India's West Bengal state are slowing down the detection of coronavirus cases with a cumbersome, bureaucratic testing process that is putting health workers at risk.
Read more »
Stocks Finish Higher As State Governors Consider Reopening The EconomyThe stock market finished higher today as Wall Street grows increasingly optimistic about the reopening of the economy—despite warnings from JPMorgan and Wells Fargo that loan defaults are set to skyrocket by skleb1234
Read more »
Exclusive: Emails show U.S. officials brushed off state concerns on drive-through virus testsAs coronavirus infections exploded in New Orleans, state and local officials repeatedly told the Trump administration that its new drive-through testing effort wasn’t going well. Those tested often waited more than a week for results, and local officials had no information on who had been notified by a federally contracted call center, according to emails between local and federal officials reviewed by Reuters.
Read more »