Ken Paxton, Texas Attorney General, Seeks State Supreme Court Intervention to Prevent Dallas Woman’s Abortion
By Eleanor Klibanoff | AUSTIN, Texas – Ken Paxton, the attorney general of Texas, has requested that the state Supreme Court step in and prevent a pregnancy in Dallas.
A Travis County district judge issued a temporary restraining order allowing Kate Cox, 31, to end her unviable pregnancy just before midnight on Thursday, prompting Paxton’s department to petition the higher court. Additionally, Paxton threatened legal action in a text to three hospitals if they permitted the abortion to be carried out there.
The state Supreme Court briefly halted the lower court’s order on Friday night but made no decision regarding the merits of the case. The court may decide on the temporary restraining order, but the exact date was not given.
In this case, Molly Duane, Cox’s attorney, expressed concern that justice delayed will be justice denied, even though she continues to hold out hope that the Court may eventually reject the state’s request.
Since before Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973, an older woman who is consistently female has not sought an abortion. On Friday, a similar case was filed in Kentucky.
Paxton requested a swift decision from the Texas Supreme Court in his complaint, stating that “each hour the temporary restraining order remains in place is an hour that Plaintiffs believe they are free to perform and obtain an elective pregnancy.”
“Nothing can replace the life that will be lost as a result for the unborn child,” according to the filing. Time is of the essence, but post facto protection is not an option.
A similar scenario, Zurawski v. Texas, in which 20 people assert that the state’s new rules prevented them from having medically necessary pregnancies for their complicated pregnancies, is currently being considered by the Texas Supreme Court. Because they are not currently seeking abortions, unlike Cox, the state has argued that these women lack the legal standing to file a lawsuit.
Cox’s counsel for the Center for Reproductive Rights argued in the first complaint that she cannot wait for a decision from the Texas Supreme Court, which could take weeks or months.
On a much shorter timeframe, the high court then took into account many of the same claims as in Zurawski v. Texas.
The key question is whether a female patient is eligible for an abortion under the state’s small health exception to the nearly universal ban on abortions due to devastating fetal anomalies. According to Cox’s attorneys, carrying on with this unviable pregnancy puts her life and future fertility in danger, necessitating an abortion.
Cox’s continued childbirth would be a “miscarriage of justice,” Travis County District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble concurred. The state disagreed, claiming that Guerra Gamble’s decision “opens the gates to expectant mothers procuring a pregnancy” outside the purview of the health exception.
Separately, Duane requested that Guerra Gamble summon Paxton to a hearing regarding his notice threatening legal action against facilities that permit Cox to have a pregnancy.
According to Duane, “the facilities are only prevented from giving Ms. Cox the care she so desperately needs by the repeated misrepresentations of the Court’s order, along with explicit threats of criminal, civil enforcement, and penalties.” “Plaintiffs humbly request that the Court hold a hearing so that Defendant Paxton may inform Your Honor of the reasons why he should not be granted sanctions.”
Veronica Escobar, a congresswoman from Texas, denounced Paxton’s remarks on Friday on behalf of President Joe Biden, who is running for re-election.
Escobar said in a speech, “A Texas woman was really forced to beg for life-saving health care in court, and then any physician who provides her with the treatment she desperately needs is threatened with punishment, including life in prison.” “This account is heartbreaking, horrifying, and startling.”
This tale was contributed to by William Melhado.
The women’s health writer Eleanor Klibanoff is based in Austin and writes about a variety of subjects, including pregnancy, maternal health treatment, gender-based assault, and LGBTQ issues. She began working for the Tribune in 2021 and had previously held the position of Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting in Louisville, where she covered, produced, and hosted the Peabody-nominated radio show “Dig.”
Eleanor has appeared on “All Things Considered,” “Morning Edition,” and “Here & Now.” She has also worked at public television stations in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Missouri, as well as NPR. She speaks Spanish well. Eleanor attended The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., after being born in Philadelphia and growing up in Atlanta.
The Texas Tribune recently published the aforementioned article, and it is being republished with permission.
It may go without saying, but producing high-quality news is expensive. The Texas Tribune is still dedicated to achieving our mission of fostering a more engaged and informed Texas with each story we cover, each event we
hold, and each newsletter we send, even as newspaper revenues and resources across the nation are declining. We rely on people to help keep our stories free and our events accessible to the public as a nonprofit office. Do you think our media is worth it? Show us your support by doing so.
