Texas Supreme Court steps in the way of woman’s fight for an emergency abortion

Just days after receiving a temporary restraining order from a lower court judge preventing the state of Texas from enforcing their abortion ban in the instance of solely her own personal emergency, Kate Cox, a 31-year-old mother of two from the Dallas area, has been blocked by the Texas Supreme Court in her efforts to end an unviable pregnancy that is putting her health at risk. 

According to CNN, the higher court handed down their one-page ruling late Friday, temporarily blocking the previous ruling hat would have allowed Cox to obtain the procedure, “without regard to the merits.” In a statement from Molly Duane, an attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights, which is representing Cox, she expresses concern over a pause that is further endangering her client, saying, “We are talking about urgent medical care. Kate is already 20 weeks pregnant. This is why people should not need to beg for healthcare in a court of law.”

This latest ruling comes hours after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton petitioned the high court to intervene in the case, threatening prosecution against anyone who helps facilitate the abortion and sending letters to hospitals disputing Cox’s claims that her pregnancy is actually a threat to her.

Per AP News, “Cox learned she was pregnant for a third time in August and was told weeks later that her baby was at a high risk for a condition known as trisomy 18, which has a very high likelihood of miscarriage or stillbirth and low survival rates. Additionally, doctors have told her that “if the baby’s heartbeat were to stop, inducing labor would carry a risk of a uterine rupture because of her two prior cesareans sections, and that another C-section at full term would would endanger her ability to carry another child.”