Federal judge declines to block COVID-19 abortion ban in Arkansas

May 7 (UPI) -- A federal court on Thursday denied a motion to block an Arkansas directive preventing patients from receiving abortion care.

The ruling came in response to a lawsuit by Arkansas abortion providers and the American Civil Liberties Union seeking to block the directive restricting access procedural abortions during the COVID-19 pandemic

In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Brian S. Miller said the directive should be upheld on the grounds that it was related to preventing the spread of COVID-19 and was "not beyond all question, a plain, palpable invasion of a woman's right to an abortion."

Miller added the decision was "agonizingly difficult" in part because it affects four specific women named in the case as well as other women seeking abortions.

"There is a strong urge to rule for them because they are extremely sympathetic figures, but that would be unjust," he wrote.

Under the directive, patients are not permitted to obtain a procedural abortion unless they test negative for COVID-19 within 48 hours.

Jennifer Dalven, director of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, noted the state's sole provider of procedural abortions, Little Rock Family Planning Services, said patients have been unable to obtain testing and the directive is "outright barring people who have decided to have an abortion from getting one and instead forcing them to stay pregnant and have a child against their will."

"A state should never prevent people from making a decision about a pregnancy that is best for themselves and their families. But doing so during the pandemic, when people are losing their jobs and doing everything they can to keep their families healthy and make ends meet, is beyond cruel," Dalven wrote.