Judge allows emergency abortion in Texas in first case of its kind since before Roe v. Wade

A Travis County judge on Thursday ruled a woman in Texas can obtain an emergency medically indicated abortion, marking the first such intervention in the state since before Roe v. Wade was decided 50 years ago.

After the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 overturned Roe, the landmark case that made abortion legal nationwide, Texas instituted an abortion ban with few exceptions, including life-threatening complications.

The Center for Reproductive Rights filed the case Tuesday on behalf of Dallas mom of two Kate Cox, her husband, and her OB-GYN. Cox, who is 20 weeks pregnant and whose unborn baby has Trisomy 18, a lethal genetic condition, sought the abortion because her doctors have advised her that there is "virtually no chance" her baby will survive and that continuing the pregnancy poses grave risks to her health and fertility, according to the complaint.

Cox, who hopes to have a third child, in the past month has been admitted to emergency rooms four times – including one visit since after filing the case – after experiencing severe cramping and fluid leaks, attorney Molly Duane told the court Thursday. Carrying the pregnancy to term would make it less likely that she will be able to carry a third child in the future, Cox's doctors have advised her, according to the filing.

"The idea that Ms. 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," Travis County District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble said as she delivered her ruling.

Cox's husband Justin and her OB/GYN, Dr. Damla Karsan, are also plaintiffs in the case against the state of Texas and the Texas Medical Board.

The case sets a historic precedent as the first case to grant relief to such a request in decades.

The ruling comes as the Texas Supreme Court weighs Zurawski v. Texas, a suit brought by  20 Texas woman who were denied abortions, many of them in similar situations to Cox's. The case alleges that vague language and “non-medical terminology” in state laws leave doctors unable or unwilling to administer abortion care, forcing patients to seek treatment out of state or to wait until after their lives are in danger. Karsan, Cox's physician, is also a plaintiff in that case, and Center for Reproductive Rights attorney Molly Duane represents plaintiffs in both cases.

Texas laws only allow an abortion in cases where "a life-threatening physical condition ... places the woman in danger of death or a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function."

Context:Texas mother of two, facing health risks, asks court to allow emergency abortion