Outrage as Texas Supreme Court Halts Kate Cox's Abortion

Legal commentators have reacted with outrage after the Texas Supreme Court temporarily blocked a pregnant woman from obtaining an emergency abortion.

The court's ruling has blocked a district court's decision to allow Kate Cox to abort a fetus that has a fatal trisomy 18 genetic defect, also known as Edwards' syndrome. Most babies with the defect will die before or shortly after being born.

"Without regard to the merits, the Court administratively stays the district court's December 7, 2023 order," the Texas Supreme Court stated in a written ruling on Friday night. The stay remains in place until the court delivers a full decision in the case. After the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade in 2022, which left individual states to choose their own legal status on abortions, Texas is one that has put in place a full ban on them, apart from in cases when the life of the mother is under threat.

Joyce Vance, a former federal prosecutor in northern Alabama, wrote on X formerly Twitter: "Incredible. The Texas Supreme Court tells a woman whose fetus has a non-survivable defect (trisomy 18) she can't get an abortion even though the pregnancy is dangerous for her & may result in her being unable to have more children. Let her make her own decision!" Joyce was the first female U.S attorney appointed by President Barack Obama.

Condemnation of the Texas ruling came from both sides of the political aisle. Susan Del Percio, a Republican strategist, told MSNBC: "[The government] is supposed to move things forward. It's not supposed to control a woman or her body."

Separately, several doctors also condemned the decision. Emily Porter, M.D, criticized Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for saying that "nothing can restore the unborn child's life that will be lost as a result." Newsweek sought email comment from Paxton's office on Saturday.

In response, Porter said: "The fetus has a 100% LETHAL chromosomal anomaly. The life was lost at fertilization. Paxton is trying to play God." The attorney general had petitioned the Texas Supreme Court to intervene in the case.

The Texas Supreme Court said Cox's case would remain pending before them but did not say when a full ruling will be delivered.

Following the ruling, Cox's attorney said they remain hopeful the state's request is quickly rejected. "We are talking about urgent medical care. Kate is already 20 weeks pregnant," said Molly Duane, an attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights. "This is why people should not need to beg for healthcare in a court of law."

Paxton petitioned the Texas Supreme Court on Friday. It came after a Texas judge granted a 14-day temporary restraining order against the state's abortion ban, so Cox could legally end her pregnancy. The state has a medical exception to its ban on abortions after six weeks.

Paxton has also threatened to prosecute anyone who carries out an abortion in the Cox case.

In a letter to three hospitals in Houston, Paxton wrote that Cox has failed to demonstrate she has a life-threatening medical condition or that her symptoms place her at risk of death or major bodily harm.

The state attorney general added the hospitals that Thursday's lower court ruling "will not insulate you, or anyone else, from civil and criminal liability," including first-degree felony prosecutions and civil penalties of at least $100,000 for each violation.

Cox sought an emergency hearing in the lower court to obtain an abortion after learning her unborn baby had trisomy 18, a fatal genetic condition, and is not expected to live more than a few days outside the womb, according to her lawsuit.

Cox, 31, has been to three different emergency rooms in the last month due to severe cramping and unidentifiable fluid leaks, her lawsuit added.

On Thursday, after the lower court granted her request, Cox told NBC News that she was grieving the loss of her unborn child.

"We're going through the loss of a child," Cox said. "There's no outcome here that I take home my healthy baby girl."