A Texas district court judge on Thursday granted a request to allow a physician to perform an abortion in the case of a pregnant woman whose fetus was diagnosed with a fatal condition, contradicting the state's strict ban on abortion.

Judge Maya Guerra Gamble of Travis County District Court granted Kate Cox a temporary restraining order to permit her physician to perform an abortion without facing civil or criminal penalties.

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Cox, 31, is the mother of two young children. In an interview on Tuesday, Cox told reporters that she and her husband never planned on having an abortion and had hoped to grow their family.

Cox's fetus, at 20 weeks gestation, has been diagnosed with trisomy 18, a chromosomal condition that slows growth before birth and often results in miscarriage. Due to several life-threatening complications, only 5%-10% of children born with trisomy 18 live past their first year of life, with those surviving having severe intellectual disabilities.

Gamble, a Democrat, agreed with Cox's lawyers' argument abortion was necessary to protect her from a potentially dangerous birth process and the preservation of her fertility.

“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 at the conclusion of the hearing on Thursday.

The Texas attorney general's office may seek intervention in a higher court, arguing that Cox did not qualify for a medical exemption to the state's abortion ban, which prohibits the procedure except to save the health and life of the mother.

Cox is being represented by the Center for Reproductive Rights, an abortion rights advocacy organization.

“Today’s decision underscores what we already know — abortion is essential health care. While we are grateful that Kate will be able to get this urgent medical care, it is unforgivable that she was forced to go to court to ask for it in the middle of a medical emergency,” said Molly Duane, senior staff attorney for CRR, in a press statement on Thursday.

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The Lone Star State is the epicenter of the battle over abortion rights, prohibiting abortion from the moment of fertilization and allowing citizens to sue others in civil court who aid women in obtaining the procedure.

"Most women are not able to do what Kate has done — many Texans have been forced to continue pregnancies that put their lives at risk. That is happening every day across Texas. As long as abortion is banned, pregnant people will suffer," added Duane.