UPDATE
Dec 11, 2023 1:28 PM CST
A pregnant Texas woman who sought court permission for an abortion in an unprecedented challenge to one of the most restrictive bans in the US has left the state to obtain the procedure, her attorneys said Monday. The announcement came as Kate Cox, 31, was awaiting a ruling from the Texas Supreme Court over whether she could legally obtain an abortion under narrow exceptions to the state's restrictive bans. A judge gave Cox permission last week but that decision was put on hold by the state's all-Republican high court. Her fetus has a fatal genetic condition. "Her health is on the line. She's been in and out of the emergency room and she couldn't wait any longer," said Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which was representing Cox.
Dec 9, 2023 7:00 AM CST
Earlier this week, Kate Cox heard the news she'd been waiting for: A Texas judge ruled that the 31-year-old mother of two, who's 20 weeks pregnant with a fetus with a fatal condition, could receive an abortion, and that the doctor who performed the procedure could do so without legal repercussions. Now there's a wrench in that plan. The Texas Supreme Court stepped in late Friday and temporarily paused that order from Travis County District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble, reports the Washington Post, which notes this is the first case since Roe v. Wade was overturned last year involving a woman seeking a court order allowing for an abortion. Cox had sought an emergency abortion after finding out that the fetus has Trisomy 18, or Edwards syndrome, a condition in which the vast majority of fetuses don't survive, with those pregnancies ending in miscarriage or stillbirth.
Those who do survive through childbirth typically die soon after. Cox's own health is also at risk, as she has underlying conditions, as is her future fertility. After Gamble gave Cox the green light for an abortion, Ken Paxton, the state's Republican attorney general, stepped in to ask the Texas Supreme Court to intervene. He has also indicated that any doctor who performs an abortion for Cox won't be shielded from civil or criminal liability; doctors in Texas, now with one of the strictest abortion laws in the US, could face life in prison if found guilty of violating that law. The high court, which said in its Friday ruling it was temporarily staying Gamble's order "without regard to the merits," is currently an all-Republican court, per the AP. "The State's ... petition is stunning in its disregard for Ms. Cox's life, fertility, and the rule of law," the Center for Reproductive Rights wrote in its own Friday court filing.
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In a Wednesday op-ed for the Dallas Morning News, Cox explained how excited she and her family were to discover she was expecting her third child, a baby girl, and how devastating it was when she found out that, due to the fetus' condition, it "cannot sustain life." "It isn't a matter of if I will have to say goodbye to her, but when," Cox wrote. "I do not want my baby to arrive in this world only to watch her suffer." She added that "I need to end my pregnancy now so that I have the best chance for my health, for parenting my children, and for a future pregnancy. ... I'm trying to do what is best for my baby daughter and myself and my family, but we are suffering because of the laws in Texas." Cox's attorneys say that, for her safety, they won't reveal her abortion plans, though as of their Friday court filing with the Texas Supreme Court, they indicated that Cox was still pregnant. (More abortion stories.)
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