The Texas Supreme Court on Monday, Dec. 11, overturned a lower court's decision that had allowed a woman to have an abortion under the “medical emergency” exception.
Kate Cox, who is 21 weeks pregnant, decided to have an abortion after learning her son was suffering from a fatal illness.
The fetus suffers from trisomy 18, sometimes called Edwards syndrome, a fatal genetic disorder that can cause heart defects and other organic abnormalities. In at least 95% of cases, the fetuses do not survive to birth, meaning the pregnancy can end in miscarriage or stillbirth.
A district court judge issued a temporary restraining order against the state so she could legally have an abortion under the “emergency medical” exception. Texas bans abortion almost entirely, with a few exceptions.
The “emergency medical” exception in Texas allows an abortion if the mother has a “lifethreatening” physical condition or “a serious risk of significant impairment of a major bodily function” during pregnancy.
Cox's doctor could neither determine nor confirm that his symptoms were lifethreatening. The Texas Supreme Court then temporarily stayed that ruling.
“No one disputes that Ms. Cox’s pregnancy was extremely complicated. Anyone would be devastated to learn of the diagnosis (fatal condition) of their unborn child. However, some difficulties during pregnancy, even serious ones, do not constitute the increased risks to the mother that the exception covers,” the Texas Supreme Court opinion said.
“The exception requires a physician to determine whether Ms. Cox’s difficulties pose such risks,” the ruling continued. “A doctor has asked a court to preauthorize the abortion, but she has not certified to the court that Ms. Cox’s condition poses the risks that the exemption requires.”
On Monday, December 11, the Center for Reproductive Rights, which represents Cox, announced that the 31yearold mother had left the state to terminate her pregnancy elsewhere. The center also said Cox “received offers to help her access abortions in other locations, from Kansas to Colorado to Canada.”
Cox's lawsuit is believed to be one of the first attempts by an individual in the country to seek a courtordered abortion since the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade picked up. Wade last year.
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