Austin, Texas – A Texas woman was looking for a Legal Medical Exemption for Abortion She left the state after the Texas Supreme Court suspended a lower court ruling that would have allowed her to practice, attorneys for the Center for Reproductive Rights said Monday.
State District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble ruled last week that Kate Cox, a 31-year-old mother of two from Dallas, can terminate her pregnancy. According to court documents, Cox’s doctors said her baby suffered from the chromosomal disorder trisomy 18, which usually results in stillbirth or early death of a baby.
According to a court filing last week, Cox was 20 weeks pregnant. According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, which brought the suit, Cox left the state because she “couldn’t wait any longer” to get the procedure.
“Her condition is stable,” said Nancy Northup, CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights. “She was in and out of the emergency room and she couldn’t wait any longer.”
In response to Gamble’s decision, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton warned the Texas Medical Center that abortions could face legal consequences.
In an unsigned order late Friday, the The Texas Supreme Court was temporarily suspended Judgment of Gambling.
On Monday, after Cox left the state, the state Supreme Court lifted the stay and ruled against Cox’s request, denying it.
According to court documents, Cox’s doctors said early screenings and ultrasounds indicated her pregnancy was “unlikely to result in a healthy baby,” and that because of her two previous C-sections, continuing the pregnancy “puts her at risk for serious complications.” It threatens “her life and future fertility”.
The lawsuit alleges that because of Texas’ strict abortion bans, doctors told her their “hands were tied” and that she would have to wait until the fetus died inside her or carry the pregnancy to term, and she would have to have a third C. -Section “Only to see her child suffer to death.”
The lawsuit was filed as the state Supreme Court weighs whether the state’s strict abortion ban is too restrictive for women who suffer serious abortion complications. An Austin judge ruled earlier this year that women experiencing serious complications could be exempt from the ban, but the ruling is on hold while the all-Republican Supreme Court considers the state’s appeal.
In arguments before the state Supreme Court, state attorneys suggested that a pregnant woman who discovers a fetus “could sue in that particular situation.”
According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, Cox v. Texas is the first case Overturning Roe v. Wade A request for emergency abortion treatment must be filed on behalf of a pregnant woman. Last week, a woman in Kentucky was 8 weeks pregnant Filed a case Challenges two of the state’s abortion bans.
Joe Ruiz contributed to this report.
