Texas Supreme Court Officially Rules Against Woman in Abortion Case

After a pregnant Texas woman whose fetus has a fatal condition left the state to get an abortion elsewhere, the state Supreme Court on Monday rejected her unprecedented challenge of one of the most restrictive bans in the US, the AP reports. The court's ruling against Kate Cox, a 31-year-old mother of two, came three days after the court temporarily halted a lower judge's ruling that gave Cox permission to get an abortion. Monday's ruling by the high court reversed the lower court ruling, CNN reports. Doctors told Cox that her fetus has a rare condition known as trisomy 18, which has a very high likelihood of miscarriage or stillbirth and low survival rate.

"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 state supreme court wrote. "Some difficulties in pregnancy, however, even serious ones, do not pose the heightened risks to the mother the exception encompasses." Texas' abortion ban makes narrow exceptions when the life of the mother is in danger but not for fetal anomalies. Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton argued that Cox had not shown that any of the complications in her pregnancy rose to the level of threatening her life. Per CNN, "The ruling calls into question whether this decision could deter women in similar situations from seeking a court-authorized abortion."

Paxton sent three Houston hospitals letters warning of legal consequences—both criminal and civil—if they allowed Cox's physician to provide the procedure. He also argued that Cox had not demonstrated that her life was at imminent risk, including noting that she was sent home after her multiple visits to emergency rooms. Cox had cesarean surgeries during her first two pregnancies. Her lawsuit argued that inducing labor would carry a risk of a uterine rupture because of her prior C-sections, and that another one at full term would endanger her ability to carry another child. But Paxton contended those arguments still fell short. "Rather, the only question is whether Ms. Cox's condition meets the exception, regardless of how long the child is expected to live," Paxton's office told the court in a filing over the weekend. (More Texas stories.)