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I spoke to the Texas Attorney General about the state& #39;s near-total ban on abortion amid the coronavirus pandemic.
I wanted to highlight a few of the things from our interview.
thread.... https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-abortion-attorney-general-ken-paxton-supreme-court/">https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texa...
I spoke to the Texas Attorney General about the state& #39;s near-total ban on abortion amid the coronavirus pandemic.
I wanted to highlight a few of the things from our interview.
thread.... https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-abortion-attorney-general-ken-paxton-supreme-court/">https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texa...
For background, the Texas Gov. issued an Executive Order temporarily suspending "elective" procedures to preserve much-needed medical resources.
It was the AG that issued a press release clarifying that the order including the vast majority of abortion.
It was the AG that issued a press release clarifying that the order including the vast majority of abortion.
The AG told me he identifies as "pro-life," but that didn& #39;t influence his decision.
"The elective procedures weren& #39;t contemplated to affect a particular class of people looking for health care. And it& #39;s obviously a very extreme remedy to deal with a serious illness"
"The elective procedures weren& #39;t contemplated to affect a particular class of people looking for health care. And it& #39;s obviously a very extreme remedy to deal with a serious illness"
This was his message to patients who can& #39;t get an abortion right now:
"Look, we& #39;re in a very unusual time. The Gov. has made a decision about elective procedures and trying to protect human life. It& #39;s not an easy decision, it affects a lot of people& #39;s lives in a negative way...
"Look, we& #39;re in a very unusual time. The Gov. has made a decision about elective procedures and trying to protect human life. It& #39;s not an easy decision, it affects a lot of people& #39;s lives in a negative way...
...I& #39;m sad that it happens to these women. I& #39;m sad that it happens to people that are suffering from all kinds of different maladies but it& #39;s just the reality of where we& #39;re at. We& #39;re in a time that nobody has ever experienced before."
I pointed out that patients were just traveling to nearby states to get the procedures, violating stay-at-home orders and potentially spreading the virus even more by moving around.
At first, he said he didn& #39;t think that was happening.
At first, he said he didn& #39;t think that was happening.
I told him that I& #39;ve spoken to many people who say they& #39;ve made that trip. This was his response:
"I don& #39;t control people moving around in general. People have to make decisions about what they& #39;re going to do every day — whether they& #39;re going to go to the grocery store...
"I don& #39;t control people moving around in general. People have to make decisions about what they& #39;re going to do every day — whether they& #39;re going to go to the grocery store...
"... whether they& #39;re going to violate certain orders. It& #39;s really a choice for people to make every day. We don& #39;t watch everybody in our state, they get to make their own decisions about how they& #39;re going to respond to any particular law or any particular order."
And here& #39;s why he says the ban is constitutional:
"The Governor has the authority right now under these powers to limit elective procedures... They& #39;re being treated just like any other provider... they& #39;re trying to find a way to be treated differently than everybody else."
"The Governor has the authority right now under these powers to limit elective procedures... They& #39;re being treated just like any other provider... they& #39;re trying to find a way to be treated differently than everybody else."
I& #39;ll be talking more about this interview at 1:30p ET on CBSN. Please tune in and join!
