In a ruling issued late Friday, the Texas supreme court paused a pregnant woman’s granted request for an emergency abortion that her doctors and lawyer argue would save her life.
Kate Cox, who is 20 weeks pregnant, asked a Texas judge to weigh in on the matter, resulting in an order allowing the 31-year-old woman to get an abortion in a state where the practice is illegal starting at fertilization. She filed a lawsuit against the Lone Star State earlier this week after learning her fetus has full trisomy 18, a rare genetic condition that delays a fetus’s physical development. At least 95 percent of fetuses don’t survive full term due to complications from the diagnosis, with pregnancies either ending in miscarriage or stillbirth, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
The lawsuit states Cox’s doctors told her going through with the pregnancy would affect her health and fertility and that she has had to seek medical treatment at the emergency room several times during the pregnancy.
The court placed an administrative stay on the judge’s ruling one day after it was issued. “The petition for mandamus and motion for temporary relief remain pending before the Court,” the state supreme court wrote.
Shortly after the lower court’s Thursday decision was overridden, Cox’s attorney said they’re hopeful the state’s request preventing the abortion will be ultimately rejected by the Texas supreme court, but “fear that justice delayed will be justice denied.” Molly Duane, the lawyer from the Center for Reproductive Rights representing Cox, added, “We are talking about urgent medical care. Kate is already 20 weeks pregnant. This is why people should not need to beg for healthcare in a court of law.”
The temporary decision was made after Texas attorney general Ken Paxton (R.) petitioned the supreme court to intervene, asking for an emergency stay. “Future criminal and civil proceedings cannot restore the life that is lost if Plaintiffs or their agents proceed to perform and procure an abortion in violation of Texas law,” Paxton’s office reportedly told the court.
In a letter sent to three Houston hospitals, Paxton said Cox failed to demonstrate a “life-threatening” medical condition or show that her life is in danger as a result of the pregnancy. If the fetus is aborted, he warned the emergency order would “not insulate hospitals, doctors, or anyone else, from civil and criminal liability for violating Texas’ abortion laws.”
Texas law bans abortion under most circumstances, although it does include exceptions to save the life of the mother or to prevent “substantial impairment of major bodily function” of the mother.
The Texas supreme court is weighing a separate challenge to the state’s abortion ban that seeks to clarify what qualifies as a medical exception to the law. The Center for Reproductive Rights also filed that particular lawsuit.