The state of Texas has been at the forefront of the abortion debate in the United States, with a number of restrictive laws in place. Recently, a pregnant Texas woman, Kate Cox, was granted permission to get an abortion despite the state’s ban. This is an unprecedented ruling that has sparked a national debate about the right to choose.
Kate Cox, a 31-year-old mother of two, had been seeking court permission in Texas to end her pregnancy for nearly a week. Her baby has a condition known as trisomy 18, which has low survival rates, and her lawsuit argued that continuing the pregnancy jeopardized both her health and ability to have more children. Texas’ abortion ban makes narrow exceptions when the life of the mother is in danger but not for fetal anomalies.
The Center for Reproductive Rights, which was representing Cox, announced that she had left the state as she could not wait any longer for the court’s decision. Hours after Cox’s attorneys announced she had left Texas, the state Supreme Court issued its decision that ruled against Cox. It came three days after the court temporarily halted a lower judge’s ruling that gave Cox permission to get an abortion.
The court wrote, “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. Some difficulties in pregnancy, however, even serious ones, do not pose the heightened risks to the mother the exception encompasses.”
Cox was believed to be the first woman in the U.S. to ask a court for permission for an abortion since Roe v. Wade was overturned last year. Days after Cox filed her lawsuit, a pregnant woman in Kentucky also asked a court to allow an abortion. There has been no ruling yet in that case.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton mounted an aggressive defense to try to prevent Cox from having an abortion. He 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.
Doctors told Cox that her fetus has a condition known as trisomy 18, which is when a baby has an extra copy of chromosome 18. The diagnosis has a very high likelihood of miscarriage or stillbirth, and low survival rate. Doctors told Cox that inducing labor or carrying the baby to term could jeopardize her ability to have another child.
Trisomy 18 occurs in approximately 1 in 2,500 diagnosed pregnancies, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine. There is no live birth in about 70% of pregnancies involving the diagnosis that proceed past 12 weeks gestational age, according to a legal filing that the two groups submitted to the court.
The termination of pregnancies because of fetal anomalies or other often-fatal medical problems is seldom discussed in national debates over abortion. There are no recent statistics on the frequency of terminations for fetal anomalies in the U.S. but experts say it’s a small percentage of total procedures.
Under Texas’ bans, doctors who provide an abortion can face criminal charges that carry punishments of up to life in prison. They could also face lawsuits from private citizens, who are empowered to sue a person who helps a woman obtain an abortion, such as the doctor’s staff. The laws do not threaten the mother with any legal consequences.
Dr. Christina Bourne, medical director for abortion provider Trust Women, which operates clinics in Oklahoma City and Wichita, Kansas, said that whether someone’s life is at risk can be subjective. Doctors are now operating in a confusing atmosphere, Bourne said.
“If you are a pregnant person in a legally restrictive state, I am concerned about your health outcomes,” she said.
The case of Kate Cox has brought to light the
