A Texas judge ruled that a pregnant woman who sued the state seeking an abortion can legally terminate her pregnancy
(CNN) — A Texas judge ruled that a pregnant woman who sued the state seeking a court-ordered abortion can legally terminate her pregnancy.
The decision marks a significant development in the ongoing debate over the state’s medical exception to its controversial ban on abortions after six weeks.
Kate Cox, who is 20 weeks pregnant, filed a lawsuit this week asking the court to temporarily block the state’s abortion ban, because she has been unable to get the procedure due to concerns of violating the law.
In an emergency hearing Thursday, a judge granted a temporary restraining order against the state that would allow Cox to immediately have an abortion.
“The idea that Mrs. 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,” Judge Maya Guerra Gamble said. “So I will be signing the order and it will be processed and sent out today.”
Her lawsuit is believed to be one of the first attempts in the country by an individual seeking a court-ordered abortion since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, according to the New York Times.
Cox and her husband were present for the hearing – which took place over Zoom – and grew emotional at the judge’s decision and could be seen wiping away tears.
CNN has reached out to the state’s attorney general office for comment.
Attorneys for the state argued Cox’s condition – as laid out in the court filings – was not severe enough to meet the state’s medical exception standard and that the judge would be essentially changing the law if she granted the temporary restraining order.
Cox’s gynecologist, Dr. Damla Karsan, has previously said she had a “good faith belief” that Cox falls under the legal exception to the abortion ban, but couldn’t provide the abortion without a court order because she “cannot risk loss of her medical license, life in prison, and massive civil fines” if her belief is not accepted by the courts.
The state allows for abortions after six weeks if a woman experiences a “medical emergency,” which is defined in the law as “a life-threatening physical condition aggravated by, caused by, or arising from a pregnancy that, as certified by a physician, places the woman in danger of death or a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function unless an abortion is performed.”
A group of 20 women and two physicians have been fighting the state in a separate lawsuit over the medical exception this year, arguing the language in the law is unclear and causes doctors to refrain from performing abortions in serious cases due to a lack of clarity in the law.
Before the Texas Supreme Court last week, an attorney with the state’s attorney general office argued the law was clear and that if women with life-threatening medical issues were not receiving abortions, then it should be considered negligence on the doctor’s part.
This is a developing story and will be updated.