By Cheryl Sullenger
New Orleans, LA – A medical emergency occurred at the Women’s Health Center abortion facility in New Orleans, Louisiana, yesterday, despite efforts by State Attorney General Jeff Landry to enforce an order that should have shut down Louisiana’s abortion businesses due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The emergency, which occurred on April 21, 2020, was located in the midst of an area where a major COVID-19 outbreak has occurred.
In a photo provided to Operation Rescue by a local pro-life activist, an African-American woman was seen fully clothed on a gurney with arms up as if she was in distress. A surgical cap covered her hair and she wore a protective mask.
A public records request made by Operation Rescue was denied within hours of filing it by the New Orleans City Attorney’s office citing medical privacy concerns.
However, it is standard practice for jurisdictions to redact all patient identifying information, then release the redacted records to the public. Operation Rescue has referred the denial to its attorneys at the Life Legal Defense Foundation for possible further action.
The Center for Reproductive Rights sued the state on April 14, 2020, on behalf of another abortion facility, Hope Medical Group for Women, opposing the order to halt surgical abortions during the COVID-19 crisis. However, attempts to reopen the economy may render this lawsuit moot.
“These abortion businesses must be held accountable for staying open in defiance of emergency closure orders, even if the state reopens for business,” said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue. “Other law-abiding businesses closed at great cost to them and their employees, while abortion businesses were allowed to flourish by preying on the health and financial fears of women. The result was the avoidable injury as we saw in the April 21 incident in New Orleans. There must be consequences for endangering women during this health crisis.”
This is a breaking story. Operation Rescue will post updates as they become available.
