Overview

• Kate Cox, a 31-year-old mother of two from Texas, has been temporarily barred from obtaining an abortion by the Texas Supreme Court, despite her fetus having a fatal diagnosis of trisomy 18.
• The case is seen as a major test since the US Supreme Court overturned the nationwide constitutional right to abortion last year, enabling states like Texas to pass near-complete bans.
• Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has argued that Cox does not meet the criteria for a medical exception to the state’s abortion ban, and has threatened legal action against hospitals that would allow the procedure.
• Cox's doctor has warned that carrying the pregnancy to term could jeopardize her health and future fertility, including uterine rupture and hysterectomy.
• This is the first time an actively pregnant adult woman has gone to court to get an abortion since before Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973.