A Texas woman seeking an abortion left the state for an emergency procedure just hours before the Texas Supreme Court overturned a ruling that would have allowed her to get an abortion under a medical exception.
Kate Cox, whose fetus has a fatal condition known as trisomy 18, has been at the center of a high-profile abortion case that is believed to be one of the first attempts in the nation to seek a court-ordered abortion since Roe v. Wade was overturned last year, according to The New York Times.
Who is Kate Cox?
Cox, a 31-year-old mother of two, filed a lawsuit last week seeking an emergency court order that would allow her to terminate her pregnancy that she and her doctors say jeopardizes her health and her future fertility. She was 20 weeks pregnant at the time.
On Thursday, a district court granted Cox a a temporary restraining order against the state, allowing a Cox to have an abortion.
However, on Friday, the Texas Supreme Court temporarily blocked the lower court before ruling against Cox on Monday and reversing the lower court’s decision.
Cox left the state Monday, Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which was representing Cox, said.
“Her health is on the line. She’s been in and out of the emergency room and she couldn’t wait any longer,” Northup said in a statement.
“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.”
What are Texas’ abortion laws?
Texas has one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the country, according to The Associated Press.
Under Texas law, there is a “general prohibition against abortion,” except when the mother is “at risk of death or poses a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function unless the abortion is performed or induced.”
Cox had been to the emergency room three times over the last month “due to severe cramping and unidentifiable fluid leaks,” according to the lawsuit.
“Because Ms. Cox has had two prior cesarean surgeries (‘C-sections’), continuing the pregnancy puts her at high risk for severe complications threatening her life and future fertility, including uterine rupture and hysterectomy,” the lawsuit stated.
However, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Monday that Cox did not meet the narrow exceptions to the state’s abortion ban.
“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.”