3 Stories You Should Read 4/14/2020: Medical Abortion Texas, Trump, Migrant Children

April 14, 2020 Confluence

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In the category of: Unlikely Lonestar

Court Allows Medication Abortions In Texas During Coronavirus Pandemic

Such an abortion involves taking one pill at a clinic, then taking a second pill 24 to 48 hours later, typically at home.

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order last month that bars non-essential medical procedures so that health resources can go to treating coronavirus patients. Texas’ Republican attorney general has said that providing abortions other than for an immediate medical emergency would violate the order.

In a ruling Monday, a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that medication abortions can go forward. In a concurrence, Judge James L. Dennis wrote that Texas’ move to ban medication abortions “is a strong indication that the enforcement is pretextual and does not bear a ‘real or substantial relation’ to the public health crisis we are experiencing.”

Over the weekend, Texas abortion clinics asked the Supreme Court to step in to allow medication abortions.

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In the category of: All by myself

Trump’s Cabinet MIA As Coronavirus Pandemic Rages

It’s supposed to be “all hands on deck,” but it’s really not.

The White House has tried to reassure the public that it’s on top of the coronavirus pandemic, declaring it an “all-hands-on-deck effort.” Yet as the disease has ripped through the country, many of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet members have been largely absent or have failed to use the powers of their agencies to respond to a crisis that has shut down the economy and killed more than 20,000 Americans.

“The absence of Trump’s Cabinet has been a staggering, if not unsurprising, abdication of leadership,” said Kyle Herrig, president of Accountable.US, a nonpartisan government watchdog group. “With millions of Americans losing their jobs and health care, the entire education system shifting to remote learning, and working people across the country struggling to pay rent, you’d think the Cabinet would show some urgency in upholding their oaths and helping the country navigate this crisis.”

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In the category of: Imigrant journey

Chicago coronavirus outbreak infects dozens of migrant children in U.S. custody

Heartland Alliance, a non-profit that oversees shelters in the Chicago area for unaccompanied migrant children, reported on Tuesday at least 37 confirmed cases of coronavirus among the minors it cares for, according to Mailee Garcia, a spokeswoman for the group. Before the outbreak, the Office of Refugee Resettlement, the government agency with custody of these minors, had confirmed six positive cases among children at three facilities in New York, the epicenter of the pandemic in the U.S.

The 37 infected children at the shelter in Chicago’s South Side make up more than half of the 69 minors currently housed at the three facilities Heartland Alliance is currently operating. According to Garcia, 28 of the infected children were asymptomatic at the time of testing. She said the group is “operating under the assumption” that more cases will arise since officials have been working to test all the children in their custody.

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