After a court in the US state of Texas banned abortion, a 31-year-old woman must have her potentially life-threatening pregnancy terminated in another state. Due to the continued deterioration of her health and constant threats from the attorney general, Kate Cox is forced “to seek medical care outside of Texas,” her attorneys said Monday.
Cox, who is 20 weeks pregnant, recently learned that her fetus has the chromosomal disorder trisomy 18. “All of her doctors have told her that her baby will be born dead or will only live for minutes, hours or days,” Cox’s lawyer Molly Duane of the non-governmental organization Center for Reproductive Rights told the court. The pregnancy also poses major health risks for Cox and for the mother of two’s chances of having more children.
Cox went to court and first won in an Austin court to end her pregnancy despite Texas’ strict abortion ban. But after the ruling, arch-conservative Attorney General Ken Paxton appealed to the state’s highest court. The Texas Supreme Court suspended the permission for the demolition for the time being – according to US media, it is still unclear when a decision can be expected.
According to US media, Cox was the first publicly known woman to successfully sue for an emergency abortion since the end of the nationwide right to abortion. The US Supreme Court overturned abortion rights in the country a year and a half ago. The states now have sovereignty over legislation, which is why a legal patchwork has emerged.
In the Republican-governed state of Texas, the regulations are particularly strict. Abortion is prohibited in virtually all cases except when the mother’s life is in danger. However, critics argue that the exceptions are formulated so vaguely that doctors often do not perform abortions for fear of lawsuits.