A Texas woman has been compelled to
leave the State for an emergency abortion after being prevented from
terminating her potentially life-threatening pregnancy, said a court filing by
her lawyers.
Kate Cox, a 31-year-old mother of two
from Dallas, is more than 20 weeks pregnant with a fetus with a rare genetic
defect, full trisomy 18, which means it will likely die before birth or at most
live a few days.
Doctors say failure to terminate the
pregnancy could cause a rupture to Cox’s uterus, threatening her future
fertility and her life. She, her husband and her doctor sued Texas last week
and initially won the right to an abortion by a judge in Travis County.
But the state’s Attorney General Ken
Paxton quickly appealed to the Texas supreme court, which blocked the lower
court’s order. Paxton also threatened to prosecute any doctor carrying out the
abortion.
Near Total Ban
The US Supreme Court overturned the
constitutional right to abortion in June 2022.
A Texas State “trigger” ban went into
immediate effect, prohibiting abortions even in cases of rape or incest. Texas
also has a law that allows private citizens to sue anyone who performs or aids
an abortion.
Texas physicians found guilty of
providing abortions face up to 99 years in prison, fines of up to $100,000 and
the revocation of their medical license.
While the State does allow abortions in
cases where the mother’s life is in danger, physicians have said in practice
the wording is vague and unclear, leaving them open to legal consequences for
exercising their medical judgment.
Death Sentence
Reacting to the news, Ohio’s Democrat Representative
Greg Landsman said, “People will die because of these extreme abortion bans.
Everyone deserves access to reproductive care.”
AFP
