Texas top court rules against woman who sought abortion for medical emergency
Dec 12, 2023
Texas [US], December 12: The Texas Supreme Court on Monday overturned a lower court's ruling that would have allowed a pregnant woman to get an emergency abortion under the medical exception for the state's near-total abortion ban, granting a petition by Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton.
The ruling from the Texas Supreme Court came hours after lawyers for the woman, Kate Cox, said in a court filing that she had left the state to obtain the abortion, but nonetheless wanted to pursue the case.
The court said in its unsigned opinion that a "good faith belief" by DamlaKarsan, a doctor who sought to perform the abortion and sued alongside Cox, that the procedure was medically necessary was not enough to qualify for the state's exception.
Instead, the court said, Karsan would need to determine in her "reasonable medical judgment" that Cox had a "life-threatening condition" and that an abortion was necessary to prevent her death or impairment of a major bodily function.
"The law leaves to physicians - not judges - both the discretion and the responsibility to exercise their reasonable medical judgment, given the unique facts and circumstances of each patient," the court wrote.
The court is also considering a separate case brought by 22 women who experienced pregnancy complications over the scope of the medical exception, though none of those women was seeking an immediate abortion. Monday's ruling appeared to reject a key argument by the plaintiffs in that case - that doctors' good-faith belief should be enough to meet the exception.
"Kate's case has shown the world that abortion bans are dangerous for pregnant people, and exceptions don't work," Nancy Northrup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which represents Cox, said earlier on Monday. The group did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday's decision.
Paxton's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation
