Katie Cox, the woman at the center of the Texas firestorm surrounding medical exemptions to abortion bans, plans to travel out of state to procure an abortion linked to a fetal anomaly. Her child has Trisomy 18, a genetic disorder, and the court documents linked to Cox’s case do not demonstrate compelling evidence of maternal health risk that would allow her a medical exemption to receive an abortion. Cox was granted an exemption to Texas state law, one of the most restrictive in the country, last Thursday, but the exemption was halted by the Texas Supreme Court late Friday evening. Finally, late Monday night, the Texas Supreme Court ruled against the case of Cox v. Texas, stating that her pregnancy does not demonstrate “heightened risks” in order to fall under the medical provision available in Texas state law.
Cox is believed to be the first currently pregnant woman to litigate her right to abortion since the passage of Roe v. Wade in 1973, but she will not be the last. A pregnant woman recently filed suit in Kentucky to argue her right to abortion.
State lawmakers have much to celebrate with the recent passage of abortion bans in states like Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, and more. However, Cox v. Texas demonstrates this work is just the beginning, and more legislation is needed to protect the rights of the unborn, particularly the disabled. States should expect increasing litigation arguing that fetal abnormalities place mothers’ lives at risk, and therefore fall under
