Topline
A Texas woman is asking a judge for permission to terminate her pregnancy due to a severe fetal anomaly, challenging Texas’ strict abortion laws that prohibit the procedure in most cases—a first-of-its-kind case since the Supreme Court allowed states to ban abortion last year.
A Texas woman who has been told continuing her pregnancy puts her at “high risk for severe ... [+]
Key Facts
Kate Cox, a 31-year-old woman with two children and a 20-week pregnancy, is suing Texas to request she be allowed an abortion after doctors told her “continuing the pregnancy puts her at high risk for severe complications threatening her life and future fertility,” according to the lawsuit, filed in district court in Travis County, Texas.
Cox was told her baby has trisomy 18, which means “her pregnancy may not survive to birth, and, if it does, her baby would be stillborn or survive for only minutes, hours, or days,” the lawsuit said.
Texas bans all abortions except in situations where there is “some evidence” of “substantial impairment of a major bodily function,” but the state doesn’t clarify what that evidence is.
Cox’s request is the first lawsuit since before Roe v. Wade that asks the court to allow a pregnancy termination, according to the Texas Tribune.
If the court doesn’t grant the order, Cox’s doctor cannot provide the abortion—despite medically recommending it—or she would face “loss of her medical license, life in prison, and massive civil fines.”
Forbes has reached out to the Texas Attorney General’s office.
Crucial Quote
“I’m trying to do what is best for my baby and myself, but the state of Texas is making us both suffer,” Cox said in a press release.
Key Background
Texas is one of several states to almost entirely ban abortion after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, allowing states to heavily restrict or outlaw the procedure for the first time in nearly 50 years. Texas has some of the strictest abortion laws in the country, banning them in most situations and allowing private citizens to sue people who help someone get an abortion. Texas is currently facing a lawsuit from women and doctors are challenging what the state’s law means for complicated pregnancies, but the state is arguing the plaintiffs don’t have the right to challenge it as none are seeking abortions due to medical challenges. That led to the lawsuit filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights on behalf of Cox, who “cannot wait” for a decision to be made in the ongoing case. The pending lawsuit from women and doctors—Zurawski v. Texas—is asking for “clarification regarding the medical exceptions to Texas’s bans.” A Travis County District Court judge granted a temporary injunction against the law with regard to “Texans with life- or health-threatening pregnancy complications,” but the state immediately appealed it, preventing the injunction from taking effect. Cox’s lawsuit differs from Zurawski v. Texas in that it only requests a ruling in her situation rather than a ruling applying to the entire state, though a ruling for her could set precedent by making the state define when an abortion is allowed, according to the New York Times.
What To Watch For
A ruling in Zurawski v. Texas. According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, the Texas Supreme Court—which heard arguments in the case late last month—is expected to issue a decision soon on if the state’s abortion ban applies in situations like Cox’s.
