Planned Parenthood: Abortions ‘Business as Usual’ During Coronavirus

Planned Parenthood is defying an Ohio order to discontinue elective abortions during the coronavirus pandemic, even though its abortion clinics are using up valuable personal protective equipment (PPE) that is needed by medical personnel who are treating the infection caused by the virus.

Pro-life organization Created Equal produced a video of recorded phone requests for information from abortion facilities regarding the decision to continue with “business as usual” during the pandemic:

Mark Harrington, president of Created Equal, said:

The abortion industry claims they perform health care. However, we have evidence that abortion centers across the nation are staying open in the midst of this national health crisis, risking public health and safety. These centers must close their doors to help stop the spread of COVID-19. If they believe in the health of Americans, they have no other choice.

Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio, for example, is refusing to comply with an order by the state’s attorney general that bans nonessential and elective surgical procedures, such as abortions, during the coronavirus pandemic.

A lawyer for the abortion facility responded to a letter from the office of state Attorney General Dave Yost, asserting the order allows Planned Parenthood to “still continue providing essential procedures, including surgical abortion.”

“This is not about abortions,” Bethany McCorkle, a spokesperson for Yost, reportedly told CBS News on Sunday. “This is about nonessential surgeries using PPE [personal protective equipment] during this pandemic.”

Women’s Med Center of Dayton also refused to comply with the order to stop abortions, reported the Dayton Daily News, adding Planned Parenthood said it is “taking steps to reduce the use of personal protective equipment and is complying with the state order because abortion is an essential, time-sensitive medical procedure.”

Abortion is essential for people’s health and wellbeing. That’s why clinic doors are staying open. https://t.co/lv55KmompW

— NARAL (@NARAL) March 22, 2020

Pro-life organizations that have long documented the unsanitary conditions at abortion clinics, however, fear “steps to reduce the use” of PPE during abortions will further compromise the safety of women and cause the continued spread of the coronavirus.

In a statement sent to Breitbart News, Catherine Glenn Foster, president and CEO of Americans United for Life, said:

COVID-19 and the national crisis it has prompted remind us of so many truths the abortion lobby would rather we forget. Abortion companies always put their profits over their patients’ health. Abortion clinics are dirty and dangerous. Abortion is violence, not healthcare. The sheer selfishness on display by abortionists refusing to close shop even for a brief time to funnel every possible resource to the brave medical providers on the front lines of the fight against the coronavirus – not to mention putting women at greater risk – is simply unconscionable.

Operation Rescue also noted that abortion facilities that are “not known for adhering to infection control protocols even in normal times — are staying open despite the very real threat of spreading the China Virus, COVID-19.”

The group’s president, Troy Newman, said:

While our schools, businesses, and churches are closed, abortion businesses are not only staying open, but are in active defiance and trying to increase the number of abortions done. For these people, today’s National Emergency is nothing more than an opportunity for profit-taking, no matter who it hurts.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has also moved to stop abortions in his state in order to make critical medical supplies available to those healthcare workers caring for victims of the coronavirus.

The order states hospitals may only perform surgeries if the patient faces an immediate risk for “serious adverse medical consequences or death, as determined by the patient’s physician.”

We must work together as Texans to stop the spread of COVID-19 & ensure that our health care professionals & facilities have all the resources they need to fight the virus.

Those who violate @GovAbbott's order will be met with the full force of the law.https://t.co/B5agHEh3Jq

— Texas Attorney General (@TXAG) March 23, 2020

Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office confirmed Monday Abbott’s order states:

“[A]ll licensed health care professionals and all licensed health care facilities shall postpone all surgeries and procedures that are not immediately medically necessary to correct a serious medical condition of, or to preserve the life of, a patient who without immediate performance of the surgery or procedure would be at risk for serious adverse medical consequences or death, as determined by the patient’s physician.”

This prohibition applies throughout the State and to all surgeries and procedures that are not immediately medically necessary, including routine dermatological, ophthalmological, and dental procedures, as well as most scheduled healthcare procedures that are not immediately medically necessary such as orthopedic surgeries or any type of abortion that is not medically necessary to preserve the life or health of the mother.

In a video message, Texas-based former Planned Parenthood manager-turned pro-life activist Abby Johnson urged all governors to close abortion clinics, asserting “they are providing non-essential, elective procedures and taking up precious resources that need to be used elsewhere.”

The founder and director of And Then There Were None, an organization the helps abortion workers leave their jobs, continued:

It’s not just about abortion, all elective surgeries right now should be stopped if they are using up valuable PPE. Hospitals need that protective equipment and it should be used to treat patients who have the coronavirus, not on any elective procedure. Both medical and surgical abortion require PPE. The abortion industry’s protocol, even on medication abortions, require ultrasounds, where PPE are used, and the women must have a follow up appointment to make sure the baby has passed.

Students for Life of America President Kristan Hawkins also called for all abortion facilities to be closed down during the coronavirus crisis and is using the hashtag #StopTheSpread to call greater attention to the need:

At a time when many areas are facing medical supply shortages and taxpayer dollars are being redirected to address the consequences of the coronavirus, we urge every governor to order abortion facilities closed in order to redirect medical personnel and supplies towards real healthcare.

It makes no sense that Planned Parenthood and other abortion facilities should remain open to commit abortions, as abortion is never essential. While millions of medical professionals across the country are scrambling to find necessary supplies, we urge every governor to order abortion facilities to cease abortions and to donate their taxpayer-funded, necessary medical supplies to local hospitals and clinics that need it to provide real life-saving care.

Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser said Planned Parenthood is doing the opposite of most of the country.

“Planned Parenthood is … defying lawful directives and continuing to put abortion and profits before health and safety,” she said. “In doing so, they are also contributing to deficits in our nation’s supply of personal protective equipment. In addition, through surgical and chemical abortion, they are putting women at risk for complications that will further overwhelm hospital emergency rooms during this already trying time.”