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Texas Abortion Ban Back With Exception for Advanced Pregnancies

Texas Abortion Ban Back With Exception for Advanced Pregnancies

(Bloomberg) -- Texas can once again clamp down on most abortions after a federal appeals court acted quickly Friday to slam shut a narrow opening an Austin judge created Thursday to let some abortions continue during the coronavirus epidemic.

Importantly, this time around the New Orleans appellate judges said women whose pregnancies will be too advanced to obtain legal abortions by the time the Texas governor’s public-health emergency decree expires may go ahead and get them. In an earlier order, in support of Texas’s ban, the same appellate judges foreclosed that option along with medication abortions that don’t require masks and gloves.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott banned all non-essential medical procedures to conserve scarce medical equipment and hospital beds. The order is set to expire April 21, unless it’s extended.

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