HOUSTON – Kate Cox is a pregnant, 31-year-old mother of two from Dallas, Texas.
On Thursday, a Texas judge allowed Cox, whose fetus has a fatal diagnosis, to get an abortion. This comes after Roe v. Wade was overturned and more than a dozen states have since banned abortions at nearly all stages of pregnancy. Although Texas allows exceptions, doctors and women have argued in court this year that the state’s law is so restrictive and vaguely worded that physicians are fearful of providing abortions lest they face potential criminal charges.
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The lawsuit, which Cox filed on Tuesday, asked courts to allow her to have an abortion since she was told by doctors her baby was likely to be stillborn or live for a week, at most. The lawsuit said doctors told her their “hands are tied” under Texas’ abortion ban.
During her entire 20-week pregnancy, Cox was admitted to the emergency room four times, including the last time which was just this week.
Cox shared that she had cesarians with her previous pregnancies. She learned she was pregnant for a third time in August and was told weeks later that her baby was at high risk for a condition known as trisomy 18, which has a very high likelihood of miscarriage or stillbirth and low survival rates, according to the lawsuit.
Doctors told Cox that if the baby’s heartbeat were to stop, inducing labor would carry a risk of a uterine rupture because of her prior cesareans and that another cesarian at full term would endanger her ability to carry another child.
In July, several Texas women gave emotional testimony about carrying babies they knew would not survive and doctors unable to offer abortions despite their spiraling conditions. A judge later ruled that Texas’ ban was too restrictive for women with pregnancy complications, but that decision was swiftly put on hold after the state appealed.
More than 40 women have received abortions in Texas since the ban took effect, according to state health figures, none of which have resulted in criminal charges. There were more than 16,000 abortions in Texas in the five months before the ban took effect last year.
State officials will likely appeal State District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble, an elected Democrat, decision. According to reports, several state officials asked Gamble to deny the request, arguing that Cox has not shown her life is in imminent danger and that she is therefore unable to qualify for an exception to the ban.
“There are no facts pled which demonstrate that Ms. Cox is at any more of a risk, let alone life-threatening than the countless women who give birth every day with similar medical histories,” the state wrote in court filings ahead of Thursday’s hearing.
Houston area physician Damla Karsan is set to perform the emergency abortion.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.