Texas Woman Leaves State for Emergency Abortion Denied by Supreme Court

Kate Cox, a pregnant woman from Texas, traveled out of state for an abortion after her challenge against the stringent ban in Texas was turned down by the state Supreme Court on Monday.

Living in the Dallas area, Cox became a focal point in the aftermath of Roe v. Wade’s overturning, as she sought court permission for an abortion. While permission was at first granted by a lower Texas court, it was subsequently halted and then rejected by the Supreme Court.

Kate Cox, a 31-year-old mother of two, had been navigating the legal system in Texas seeking approval to terminate her pregnancy after the foetus was diagnosed with trisomy 18, a condition with extremely low survival rates after birth and a high likelihood of miscarriages or stillbirths. Her lawsuit contended that continuing the pregnancy posed risks to her health as well as her future fertility.

Under Texas law, doctors who provide an abortion can face criminal charges and custodial sentences up to life in prison. The abortion ban allows exceptions only when the mother’s life is at risk, but Attorney General Ken Paxton argued that Cox hadn’t demonstrated that the complications in her pregnancy reached a point of endangering her life.

“No one disputes that Ms. Cox’s pregnancy has been extremely complicated. Any parents would be devastated to learn of their unborn child’s trisomy 18 diagnosis,” the court wrote. “Some difficulties in pregnancy, however, even serious ones, do not pose the heightened risks to the mother the exception encompasses.”

‘Forced to Beg For Urgent Healthcare’

Cox’s case also served as a test for Texas and other GOP-controlled states with stringent abortion bans, challenging their restrictions across nearly all pregnancy stages. While her lawyers announced she had left the state for emergency abortion, they declined to give any details on her whereabouts.

“This past week of legal limbo has been hellish for Kate,” said Nancy Northup, president and CEO at the Center for Reproductive Rights. “Her health is on the line. She’s been in and out of the emergency room and she couldn’t wait any longer. This is why judges and politicians should not be making healthcare decisions for pregnant people – they are not doctors.

“This is the result of the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade: women are forced to beg for urgent healthcare in court. Kate’s case has shown the world that abortion bans are dangerous for pregnant people, and exceptions don’t work. She desperately wanted to be able to get care where she lives and recover at home surrounded by family. While Kate had the ability to leave the state, most people do not, and a situation like this could be a death sentence.”

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