Hearing Thursday for woman suing Texas over abortion ban

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — Kate Cox never thought she would seek an abortion in her journey to raise a big, loving family. As a 31-year-old mother of two young children in Dallas, she was thrilled to learn she and her husband had a third on the way in August. That joy, however, was cut short by a diagnosis.

“It is not a matter of if I will have to say goodbye, but when. I do not want to continue the pain and suffering that has plagued this pregnancy,” Cox said in a petition to a Travis County district court. “I do not want my baby to arrive in this world only to watch her suffer a heart attack or suffocation. I desperately want the chance to try for another baby and want to access the medical care now that gives me the best chance at another baby.”

She learned her baby has full trisomy 18 — a fatal chromosomal condition causing deformities and growth delays in fetal development. Babies with trisomy 18 are often stillborn or survive for only minutes or days, and their mothers are often at risk of losing the chance to have another child, the petition states.

According to the petition, Cox’s physicians told her their “hands are tied” because of Texas’ abortion bans.

“She will have to wait until her baby dies inside her or carry the pregnancy to term, at which point she will be forced to have a third C-section, only to watch her baby suffer until death,” the petition states.

Cox is now suing the state of Texas with her husband and physician for emergency abortion care. They are asking the court to declare that the abortion bans are unconstitutional when applied to pregnant people with emergency medical conditions.

Travis County’s 459th District Court will hold a virtual hearing on Dec. 7 at 9 a.m. A livestream is available here.

Texas Right to Life accuses the suit of “seek[ing] to conflate two separate issues: the risk to the mother and the child’s disability.” They argue a baby with trisomy 18 should be born and live until natural death.

“Ms. Cox’s story is heartbreaking because all of us recognize that she and her child are equally valuable and loved by God,” Texas Right to Life Communications Director Kimberly Schwartz said. “If you feel compassion for this situation like us, it is because we all know that there are two lives at stake and that both are supremely important. The answer is not to end the child’s life because of the baby’s disability, but state law does anticipate the serious risk to the mother.”

Cox’s suit aligns closely with Zurawski v. Texas, another challenge to Texas’ abortion ban seeking clarification to the law’s medical exceptions. In that case, 20 women — many of whom nearly died due to pregnancy complications — argued in front of the Texas Supreme Court that the law does not give proper deference to a doctor’s good-faith medical judgment.

The Center for Reproductive Rights is leading both cases. Dr. Damla Karsan, an OB-GYN in Houston, is a plaintiff in both. She is suing for the right to use perform abortions when she deems them medically necessary.

“In Dr. Karsan’s experience, widespread fear and confusion regarding the scope of Texas’s abortion bans have chilled the provision of necessary obstetric care, including abortion care,” the petition states.

Kate Cox’s husband, Justin Cox, is also a plaintiff in the suit. The petition states he “hopes to assist his wife in obtaining the abortion,” but he fears retribution under Senate Bill 8, which subjects him to civil liability.

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