A US woman with a high-risk pregnancy who wanted an abortion in Texas, where abortions are illegal except in rare cases, was forced to leave the conservative state to have an emergency abortion, her lawyers said Monday, AFP reported.

AbortionPhoto: Traci Hahn | Dreamstime.com

“This week of legal uncertainty has been hell for Kate,” said Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, the organization that filed the lawsuit on her behalf.

“Her health is in danger. He was in and out of the emergency room and couldn’t wait any longer,” she added.

Kate Cox, a 31-year-old Texas resident who is 21 weeks pregnant, was recently diagnosed with trisomy 18, a chromosomal abnormality associated with serious birth defects.

The baby is at risk of dying in the womb, and even if the pregnancy is carried to term, the chances of the baby being stillborn or dying within days are high.

According to her doctor, this pregnancy also threatens Ms. Cox’s health and fertility. But she was denied an abortion because of Texas’ anti-abortion laws, and doctors told her their hands were “tied,” according to her complaint.

So the young woman filed a complaint to be able to have an abortion in her state. A judge granted his request last week, but Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton appealed to the Texas Supreme Court to delay the decision.

That’s exactly what the high court did Friday, barring Cox from performing abortions in Texas.

“After a week of litigation and threats of legal action from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, our client Kate Cox was forced to leave her home state of Texas to obtain the emergency abortion she needed to protect their health and future fertility,” it said. in the center. for reproductive rights said.

The case illustrates the challenges facing patients and doctors after the Supreme Court struck down the federal abortion guarantee in June 2022, leading several US states to restrict or even ban abortions.

Since then, many American women have had to make difficult and expensive journeys to obtain an abortion. (photo: Traci Hahn | Dreamstime.com)

On the same topic:

  • Rare decision: Texas judge allows abortion for woman with high-risk pregnancy