AUSTIN, Texas – A pregnant Texas woman who sought court permission for an abortion in an unprecedented challenge to one of the most restrictive bans in the United States left the state to obtain the procedure, her lawyers said Monday.
The announcement came as Kate Cox, 31, awaited a ruling from the Texas Supreme Court on whether she could legally obtain an abortion under narrow exceptions to the state’s ban. A judge gave Cox permission last week, but that decision was stayed by the state’s Republican high court.
“Your health is at stake. She has been in and out of the emergency room and couldn’t wait any longer,” said Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which represented Cox.
The organization did not reveal where Cox went.
Cox was believed to be the first woman in the United States to ask a court for permission to have an abortion since Roe v. Wade last year. Her lawsuit quickly became a high-profile test of bans in Texas and a dozen other GOP-controlled states, where abortion is banned at nearly all stages of pregnancy.
Days after Cox filed her lawsuit, a pregnant woman in Kentucky also asked a court last week to allow an abortion. There has not yet been a ruling on that case.
Kate Cox leaves Texas to obtain a legal abortion amid a fight with the state. A.P. Cox’s lawsuit came after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. AP Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has threatened hospitals and doctors with prosecution. AP
Doctors have told Cox that her fetus is at high risk for a condition known as trisomy 18, which has a very high chance of miscarriage or stillbirth, and low survival rates, according to the lawsuit.
Cox was also told that inducing labor or carrying the baby to term could jeopardize her ability to have another child in the future.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn