Texas Supreme Court temporarily blocks woman from getting emergency abortion

The Texas Supreme Court temporarily stopped a pregnant woman from obtaining an emergency abortion on Friday, shortly after the state's attorney general requested the block.

The Texas Supreme Court temporarily stopped a pregnant woman from obtaining an emergency abortion on Friday, shortly after the state's attorney general requested the block.

The legal battle is a major test case since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the nationwide constitutional right to abortion last year, enabling states like Texas to pass near complete bans.

The Texas court halted a lower court ruling allowing the emergency abortion, responding to a petition from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton earlier in the day. "Without regard to the merits, the Court administratively stays the district court's Dec. 7, 2023, order," the late Friday ruling said.

The woman, 31-year-old Kate Cox of the Dallas-Fort Worth area, sought court authorization for the abortion because her fetus was diagnosed on Nov. 27 with trisomy 18 — a genetic abnormality that usually results in miscarriage, stillbirth or death soon after birth.

Cox, who is about 20 weeks pregnant, said in her lawsuit she would need to undergo her third caesarian section if she continues the pregnancy. That could jeopardize her ability to have more children, which she and her husband want.