Within hours of a court ruling that Kate Cox – a woman with severe pregnancy complications – should be allowed to have an abortion, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton asked the state’s Supreme Court to block the order.
When the Center for Reproductive Rights filed a lawsuit on Cox’s behalf on Dec. 5, she was already 20 weeks pregnant. Cox lives in Dallas, Texas.
“Last week, Kate received confirmation that her fetus has a lethal condition – Trisomy 18 – and has no chance of survival,” said a Friday press release from the organization. “Due to Kate’s medical history, her OB-GYNs warned her that continuing to carry the pregnancy could jeopardize her health and future fertility. However, she has been unable to get an abortion in Texas due to the state’s extreme abortion bans.”
A state court ruled in Cox’s favor Thursday. After Paxton, who was acquitted during impeachment proceedings earlier this year, called for that ruling to be blocked, the supreme court complied. Paxton also issued a letter threatening to prosecute any doctor who gave Kate an abortion, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights.
“The Court said they will weigh in on the matter and stayed the lower court ruling until they have more time to consider the case,” said the center.
Molly Duane, senior staff attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights, said the team fears that justice will be denied in Cox’s case.
“We are talking about urgent medical care,” she said. “Kate is already 20 weeks pregnant. This is why people should not need to beg for healthcare in a court of law.”
Last summer, the U.S. Supreme Court paved the way for more restrictive abortion laws with the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health opinion. Cox’s case is far from the first complication to come up since the unpopular ruling. Last year, Audacy reported on a 10-year-old girl who was raped, impregnated and forced to leave her home state of Ohio to get an abortion.