The chair of the board of the American Association of Prolife OB/GYNs (AAPLOG) says moving forward with abortions during the coronavirus pandemic is “medically irresponsible,” at a time when medical equipment is much needed to treat victims of the illness.

Dr. Christina Francis reacted recently to a statement by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and other organizations that urged health professionals “to ensure abortion access is not compromised” during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Abortions use up much-needed resources such as masks, gloves, and other personal protective equipment,” Francis told LifeSiteNews.

Francis’s organization is one of five groups of physicians that, collectively, represent over 30,000 doctors and medical professionals who are condemning ACOG’s representation of abortion as essential health care.

The coalition of medical groups said in a statement:

In such an uncertain and tumultuous time, the entire healthcare profession is being called upon to conserve resources and healthcare professionals to an extent never seen before. And yet, in the midst of this call, while hospitals are postponing elective procedures and many outpatient clinics are rescheduling non-essential office visits, the abortion industry continues with business as usual.

As Breitbart News reported, Planned Parenthood has been 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.

The abortion industry says abortions are “business as usual” during the pandemic:

Abortion is an essential and time-sensitive medical procedure — and it must remain so during this public health crisis. Delays or additional barriers to care can make it more difficult or even impossible for patients to access safe, legal abortion. #COVID19 — Planned Parenthood (@PPFA) March 24, 2020

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

In an op-ed at the Wall Street Journal, however, Francis wrote ACOG “routinely puts politics ahead of medicine by adopting the most extreme positions on abortion.”

She explained further:

It has lobbied and briefed against parental notification of minors and informed-consent laws, and in favor of taxpayer-funded abortion. It has advocated for laws restricting speech around clinics and compelling pro-life pregnancy centers to tell women where they can go to obtain state-subsidized abortions. ACOG’s work has gotten so political that in 2008 it added a lobbying arm. I was refused when I asked if I could direct our dues only to the organization’s nonlobbying arm.

Francis added that, with all of ACOG’s promotion of abortion, 86 percent of all OB/GYNs do not perform the procedure.

“[B]ut ACOG’s position is that you either support the most extreme abortion lobbying or you’re off the island,” she observed. “Most of ACOG’s abortion advocacy is undertaken free of consultation with its almost 60,000 members.”

The coalition of physicians’ groups states, “Elective abortion is neither ‘essential’ nor ‘urgent,’ but it does consume critical resources such as masks, gloves, and other personal protective equipment, and unnecessarily exposes patients and physicians to pathogens.”

The doctors note that continuing abortions – some of which are likely to develop complications – place greater stress on a healthcare system that is under tremendous pressure at the current time:

Most abortion providers instruct women to go to an emergency room if they have any concerning symptoms after the abortion. Approximately 5% of women who undergo medication abortions will require evaluation in an emergency room, most commonly for hemorrhage. Surgical abortions can also result in hemorrhage. Emergency room personnel – who are already struggling to meet the demands of the COVID-19 pandemic – will be further strained to provide care to these women.

“The American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American College of Pediatricians, Christian Medical & Dental Associations, the Catholic Medical Association, and the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons call for all elective abortions to be suspended in accordance with the current CDC recommendations pertaining to elective procedures and office visits,” the coalition asserts.