Texas Supreme Court overturns order allowing Kate Cox to get abortion

Monday’s ruling by the all-Republican court states that doctors, not judges, must use “reasonable medical judgment” to decide when a patient qualifies for the procedure under state law, according to the news site. The ruling came mere hours after attorneys for Cox said she was leaving the state to end her pregnancy.

In a suit filed last week, Cox asked a court to allow her to terminate her pregnancy because her fetus had trisomy 18, an abnormality that would probably mean its death before delivery or soon afterward. Her lawyers maintained that carrying the pregnancy to term threatened her future fertility and health.

Travis County District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble ruled last Thursday that neither Cox nor her physician should be charged for ending the troubled pregnancy. Texas Attorney Ken Paxton asked the Supreme Court to reverse that ruling, and the justices quickly issued a temporary hold so they could deliberate.

Monday’s high court ruling calls on the Texas Medical Board to offer more robust guidance to doctors so they can better assess whether an abortion would violate state law, according to the Tribune. Under Texas’ current law, which bans virtually all abortions, physicians can only provide the procedure in situations where it’s needed to save the pregnant person’s life or prevent a severe medical threat.

The Center for Reproductive Rights, which brought the original case on Cox’s behalf, has pledged to continue the legal fight to uphold her right to obtain an abortion in Texas. The group’s attorneys have repeatedly argued that Texas’ “reasonable medical judgment” rule is vague and creates situations where doctors are forced to wait until a pregnant person’s health is in grave danger.

“This week, Texas pulled back the curtain and showed us what their ‘medical exceptions’ are really about: they are nothing more than political window dressing for an extreme ban designed to control our bodies. The emperor has no clothes,” the Center for Reproductive Rights tweeted following the Supreme Court ruling.

“It is unacceptable that in 2023, people should have to fear persecution by their own government simply for accessing the health care their doctors say they need,” the organization also tweeted. “The truth is: any one of us could be Kate. Every one of us should be outraged.”

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This article appears in Nov 29 – Dec 12, 2023.