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Texas Woman Asks Court to Allow Her Abortion

A woman who is 20 weeks pregnant, and whose fetus has been diagnosed with a deadly condition, is suing for an abortion under a medical exception to the state’s bans.

A crowd of protesters marching in front of the Texas State Capitol.
An abortion rights march near the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Texas, last year.Credit...Ilana Panich-Linsman for The New York Times

Reporting from Houston.

A pregnant Texas woman whose fetus has a fatal condition sued the state on Tuesday seeking an emergency court order to allow her doctor to perform an abortion, despite the state’s strict bans on the procedure.

The lawsuit is believed to be one of the first attempts in the nation to seek a court-ordered abortion since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, allowing states to make their own abortion laws.

Texas is at the forefront of states that restrict abortion, and has overlapping bans that outlaw abortions from the point of fertilization and allow private citizens to sue others who might help a woman obtain an abortion. The laws allow some exceptions to save the health and life of the pregnant woman, though abortion rights advocates argue that they are unclear, putting women with pregnancy complications at risk.

The vagueness of the exceptions in Texas have prevented doctors from performing the procedure in most cases, lawyers for the woman, Kate Cox, have argued. A decision in her case could force the state to more clearly define what is allowed under the law.

Ms. Cox is 20 weeks pregnant, and her fetus has been diagnosed with trisomy 18, a condition that in all but very rare cases leads to miscarriage, stillbirth or the death of the infant within the first year after birth. Despite trips to the emergency room for pain and discharge, Ms. Cox, 31, a mother of two young children who lives in the Dallas area, has been told by doctors that she is required to continue her pregnancy under Texas law.

“Essentially, it was, as long as the baby has a heartbeat, there was nothing you could do in Texas,” said Ms. Cox in an interview on Tuesday.


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