September 7, 2024
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Texas Supreme Court on Friday rejected a closely watched challenge to the state's abortion ban, ruling against a group of women who had serious pregnancy complications and became the first in the U.S. to testify in court about being denied abortions since Roe v. Wade was overturned.
In a unanimous ruling, the court upheld the Texas law. The same issue was at the center of a separate lawsuit brought last year by Kate Cox, a mother of two from Dallas, who sought court permission to obtain an abortion after her fetus developed a fatal condition during a pregnancy that resulted in multiple trips to an emergency room.
The court said the law's exceptions, as written, are broad enough and that doctors would be misinterpreting the law if they declined to perform an abortion when the mother’s life is in danger.
“Texas law permits a life-saving abortion,” the court wrote in the order signed by Justice Jane Bland.
The court ruled that state law does not require that a woman’s death or serious impairment be “imminent” when being evaluated by a doctor for an abortion.
Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, whose office defended the law in the case, applauded the ruling.
“I will continue to defend the laws enacted by the Legislature and uphold the values of the people of Texas by doing everything in my power to protect mothers and babies,” Paxton posted on X.
Earlier this month, two University of Texas professors signed onto Paxton's federal lawsuit against the Biden administration over regulations that expand protections for pregnant students in federally funded education programs. Those include accommodations for students who need to miss class for abortion care.
Philosophy professor Daniel Bonevac and business professor John Hatfield said they would accommodate students only in cases of “medically necessary” abortions when a mother’s life or health is threatened.
