File photo
File photo
The Thomas More Society, a pro-life organization, filed a lawsuit in Tarrant County on behalf of doctors and dentists seeking to suspend certain abortions during the COVID-19 shutdown.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported the group wants abortions to be restricted during the stay-at-home order. Drs. Gregory Scheideman, Willian Runyon Jr., David Kostohryz Jr. and John Kelley, and the American Association for Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists are the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against Whole Women's Health in Fort Worth, the Southwest Fort Worth Health Center and the cities of Fort Worth and Price.
The lawsuit claims that the clinics are using personal protective equipment (PPE) on "elective and unlawful abortions at a time when every piece of personal protective equipment must be conserved," the news agency reported. The plaintiffs want an order that suspend ban abortions since oral surgery, dentistry and orthodontics have already been banned during the pandemic.
In March, Gov. Greg Abbott banned medication and surgical abortions, but the plaintiffs want the cities to also ban abortions, according to the news agency.
“Plaintiffs ... will suffer probable, imminent and irreparable injury absent a temporary injunction because their businesses have been shut down on account of the city’s stay-at-home order, and they are suffering discriminatory treatment by having their lawful practices shuttered while illegal abortion providers are allowed to continue operating,” the complaint states.
The abortion ban in the state has been reinstated and reversed several times, the newspaper reported. Abortion providers in the state have even asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take action immediately. Last week, a federal appeals court reinstated the ban, reversing its previous decision.
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