Texas Supreme Court stays lower court ruling allowing woman to have abortion after fatal fetal diagnosis
The Texas Supreme Court late Friday stayed a lower court judge’s ruling that would have allowed a pregnant woman whose fetus is diagnosed as fatal to receive an abortion despite a ban on the procedure in the Lone Star State.
The order from the all-Republican state Supreme Court came more than 30 hours after Kate Cox, 31, received a temporary restraining order from a lower court judge that prevented the state from enforcing the ban on abortion if applicable.
The court said in a one-page ruling that it would temporarily stay Thursday’s ruling “without regard to the merits.” The order gives the court more time to weigh in on the case.
“While we still hope that the Court will ultimately reject the state’s request and do so quickly, in this case we fear that justice delayed is justice denied,” said Molly Duane, senior staff attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights, which represents Cox. . “We’re talking about urgent medical care. Kate is already 20 weeks pregnant. That’s why people shouldn’t have to beg for medical care in court.”
PREGNANT TEXAS WOMAN CHALLENGES STATE’S ABORTION BAN WITH LAWSUIT AFTER RECEIVING FATAL FETAL DIAGNOSIS
The Texas Supreme Court on Friday night stayed a lower court judge’s ruling that would have allowed Kate Cox, whose fetus has a fatal diagnosis, to receive an abortion. (Kate Cox via AP)
Cox’s lawyers have said they will not reveal their client’s abortion plans for safety reasons. Her lawyers indicated in a filing before the Texas Supreme Court on Friday that she was still pregnant.
The Dallas-area mother of two was 20 weeks pregnant this week when she filed a lawsuit seeking approval for an abortion in Texas, in what is believed to be the first such challenge to the state’s abortion ban. since Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court last year, allowing states to create their own abortion laws.
The order issued Thursday applied to Cox but to no other pregnant women in Texas.
Cox found out she was pregnant for the third time in August before being told weeks later that her baby was at high risk for a condition known as trisomy 18, which has a very high chance of miscarriage or stillbirth and low survival rates. , according to her. lawsuit.
TEXAS JUDGE DETERMINES THAT STATE’S ABORTION LAW IS TOO RESTRICTIVE FOR WOMEN WITH PREGNANCY COMPLICATIONS
The Texas Supreme Court said in a one-page ruling that it would temporarily stay Thursday’s ruling “without regard to the merits.” (REUTERS/Callaghan OHare)
Doctors have also told Cox that if the baby’s heartbeat stops, inducing labor would risk a uterine rupture due to her two previous C-sections, and that another full-term cesarean section would jeopardize her ability to have another child. .
Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton argued that Cox does not meet the criteria for a medical exception to the state’s abortion ban and asked the state Supreme Court to take action.
“Future criminal and civil proceedings cannot restore the life that is lost if plaintiffs or their agents proceed to perform and obtain an abortion in violation of Texas law,” Paxton’s office told the court.
Paxton also warned three Houston hospitals that they could face legal consequences if they allowed Cox’s doctor to perform the abortion. This, despite Thursday’s ruling by state District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble, whom Paxton described as an “activist” judge.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
