In a historic ruling, a Texas judge has granted a pregnant woman’s request to block the state’s abortion ban and allow her to end her pregnancy.
Lawyers from the Center for Reproductive Rights petitioned the court Monday to allow Kate Cox, 31, to terminate her pregnancy after she learned the fetus had a fatal condition. Cox’s lawyers argued that continuing the pregnancy to term would jeopardize her health and could impact her future fertility.
"The idea that Miss Cox wants desperately to be a parent, and this law might actually cause her to lose that ability is shocking, and would be a genuine miscarriage of justice," Judge Maya Guerra Gamble said in Thursday, granting Cox's application for a temporary restraining order.
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In order to reverse the decision, the Texas Attorney General’s Office would need to ask a higher court to overturn the emergency restraining order, according to the Texas Tribune.
The case is the first time a pregnant woman has sued to be able to obtain an abortion since before Roe v. Wade. The Supreme Court overturned Roe last summer, allowing Texas to pass a ban on abortions in almost all cases. The judge’s ruling also applies to Dr. Damla Karsan, a Houston OB/GYN who volunteered to perform the procedure.
Cox learned last month that her fetus suffered from Trisomy 18, a chromosomal anomaly that means the fetus would not survive long after birth. In a statement accompanying her lawsuit, Cox said it was “not a matter of if I will have to say goodbye to my baby, but when.”
“I do not want to continue the pain and suffering that has plagued this pregnancy,” she added. “I do not want to put my body through the risks of continuing this pregnancy. I do not want my baby to arrive in this world only to watch her suffer. I need to end my pregnancy now so that I have the best chance for my health and a future pregnancy.”
Molly Duane, an attorney for the Center for Reproductive Rights who argued at the hearing, said she was relieved by the ruling but that is was “unforgivable” her client had to “beg for healthcare in court.”
“What is happening in Texas right now is a human rights violation,” she said in a press call. “The state’s arguments today were callus in the extreme and show they don’t care whether people live or die, as long as they are forced to give birth.”
Texas law currently bans all abortions except when needed to save a pregnant patient’s life. Twenty women sued the state in July, alleging they were denied abortions for their medically complex pregnancies. A judge in that case ruled that doctors should be allowed to use their “good faith judgment” in deciding when to provide an abortion for medical reasons, but the state quickly appealed. The Texas Supreme Court heard arguments in that case, Zurawski v. Texas, last week.
Cox’s lawyers previously argued that she could not wait until a decision in the Zurawksi case.
“The court must urgently step in to protect Kate’s health,” Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement Monday. “Women like Kate should not be forced to go to court to protect her health and preserve her future fertility.”
