The very conservative Supreme Court of the US state of Texas yesterday, Friday, prevented a pregnant woman from urgently terminating her very dangerous pregnancy, but clarified that it would examine the merits of the case later.

Attorney General Ken Paxton had gone to the Texas Supreme Court to overturn a court order issued yesterday, Thursday, allowing 31-year-old Kate Cox to terminate her pregnancy, which threatens her fertility and her life – a rare decision in this state which prohibits abortion except for very rare exceptions, as it has one of the strictest laws in the US on the subject.

“Without considering the merits, the Court is administratively staying the district court’s decision” that allowed Cox to have an abortion, said the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), which is representing Cox in the lawsuit.

CRR distributed a copy of the court’s decision.

The court says Cox’s request remains before it for consideration.

“While we remain hopeful that the Court will ultimately reject the state’s request and that it will do so quickly,” explains Molly Duane, who is CRR’s lead attorney, she adds that she fears that delaying the court’s decision is tantamount to perfectly with denial.

“This is a medical emergency. Kate is already 20 weeks pregnant. That is why people should not have to beg before a court to get medical attention,” he said.

Cox said in her lawsuit that if she continues the pregnancy, she would need to undergo her third C-section, which would likely jeopardize her ability to have more children, which she says she and his husband want. her husband.

Strong restrictions

“Texas law prohibits abortion,” Attorney General Ken Paxton emphasized, claiming that the district court “abused its authority” without “any evidence” while “the Texas medical examiner had determined that Mrs. Cox was not met the necessary conditions to receive a medical exemption”.

In his appeal, Ken Paxton, an ultraconservative Republican, had asked the Texas Supreme Court to “suspend” that decision.

Kate Cox received confirmation last week that her fetus has trisomy 18 (Edwards syndrome), a chromosomal abnormality linked to severe malformations. During the emergency hearing the day before yesterday, Thursday, Judge Maya Gera Gable had given her the option to proceed with an abortion.

In a statement he included in a letter to Texas hospitals, Ken Paxton had already warned Thursday of “potential long-term consequences” if those facilities allowed abortion. He had argued that the court’s ruling in Cox’s favor did not protect those hospitals “or any other person from being held civilly and criminally liable for violating Texas abortion laws.”

In the summer of 2022, the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade”, which for half a century guaranteed the federal right of American women to terminate their pregnancies.

Since then about twenty states have banned abortions or greatly restricted them, such as Texas, which does not allow voluntary termination of pregnancy except when there is a risk of death or serious disability to the mother.