The Texas Supreme Court on Friday temporarily blocked a pregnant woman whose health is at risk from undergoing an emergency abortion, even after her doctors determined the unborn baby has no chance to live, CBS News reports.
In their ruling, justices on the state’s highest court paused a lower judge’s decision that would have permitted the woman, 31-year-old Kate Cox, to have the procedure.
Cox is 20 weeks pregnant and her unborn baby suffers from a fatal genetic condition known as trisomy 18, which can result in miscarriage, stillbirth, or death shortly after birth.
The baby, if delivered successfully, likely would not survive more than several days once outside the womb. Complications from the pregnancy also pose a risk to Cox’s health, according to legal filings.
“Without regard to the merits, the Court administratively stays the district court’s December 7, 2023 order,” the brief, one-page order reads.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton had asked the high court to step in after Maya Guerra Gamble, a state district court judge in Travis County, issued a 14-day temporary restraining order on Thursday so Cox could undergo an abortion lawfully.
“The idea that Ms. Cox wants desperately to be pregnant, and this law might actually cause her to lose that ability, is shocking, and would be a genuine miscarriage of justice,” the judge said during the hearing before issuing the ruling, according to KPRC-TV.
The state’s abortion ban is one of the strictest in the United States and prohibits most abortions since the time of conception. While the state does have limited exceptions for the life and health of the mother, critics of the law argue that the provisions are not clear.
Paxton threatened to prosecute anyone who assists in performing an abortion for Cox and asserted that she did not demonstrate adequately that she has a “life-threatening” health condition stemming from the pregnancy or that she is “at risk of death” or significant bodily harm, according to Courthouse News Service.
In letters Paxton wrote to several hospitals where Cox’s doctor has privileges, he asserted that Thursday’s decision by the judge to allow the abortion “will not insulate you, or anyone else, from civil and criminal liability,” which could include first-degree felonies and civil sanctions of at least $100,000 per violation,” according to USA TODAY.
Cox argued in her lawsuit that she has had to visit the emergency room three times in the past month because of cramping and fluid leaks.
Forcing her to carry the pregnancy to term would put her at “particularly high risk for gestational hypertension, gestational diabetes, fetal macrosomia, post-operative infections, anesthesia complications, uterine rupture, and hysterectomy, due to her two prior C-sections and underlying health conditions,” Cox’s lawsuit reads.
Cox’s attorneys said Friday after the state Supreme Court ruling that she has been informed the fetus “has no chance of survival.”
Lawyers for Cox, who are affiliated with abortion rights group the Center for Reproductive Rights, said Paxton’s actions displayed a “disregard for Ms. Cox’s life, fertility, and the rule of law,” according to CNN.
“The State claims that it alone has the power to value Ms. Cox’s current nonviable pregnancy more highly than Ms. Cox’s own life and life of the future children she and her husband hope to have, regardless of Ms. Cox’s wishes for her family and the good faith advice of her medical team,” Cox’s attorneys wrote in a court filing, CNN reports.
The high court did not provide a timeline of how it would handle the case or when it would issue a complete decision on the merits.
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast. Listen to the latest episode:
[Feature Photo: Pixabay]
