The complications that Texas’ abortion law created for a pregnant mother in Dallas have put the state in a national spotlight — and not in a good way.
Kate Cox left the state to get an abortion at 20 weeks because it wasn’t clear that, despite grave risks to her health and a pregnancy almost certain to end in the baby’s quick death, doctors could legally perform the procedure.
We err on the side of life and think that it’s ethical, healthy and consistent to promote a culture of life in society, but scenarios like this fall into a gray area and demonstrates that our current law is somehow both too vague and too narrow. It must be amended.
According to a court filing, Cox, 31, and her husband were excited to expand their family of four. However, after finding out through extensive testing that her baby had full trisomy 18, among many other severe health problems, and was unlikely to survive long past birth, if at all, the couple grew concerned. As Cox’s health deteriorated, they became increasingly worried about carrying the pregnancy to term.
Cox’s physicians told her her pregnancy would pose risks to her health and “future fertility, including uterine rupture and hysterectomy.” She is at “increased risk of gestational hypertension, gestational diabetes, fetal macrosomia, cesarean delivery, post-operative infections, and anesthesia complication.” The justices of the Texas Supreme Court contended her doctor did not argue persuasively that Cox’s life was at risk, as Texas’ strict ban requires to allow an abortion.
Though an Austin-based judge granted her an abortion based on the medical emergency exception in the law, the Texas Supreme Court halted it. Worse, Attorney General Ken Paxton informed Cox’s attorneys and medical providers that none of them would be insulated from prosecution or civil suits if she went forward with her abortion.
We are concerned about the optics of this case and the merits affecting the health, fertility, and lives of Texas women who want to have children here.
In their opinion, the nine Republican Supreme Court justices said that Cox’s doctor “did not assert that Ms. Cox has a ‘life-threatening physical condition’ or that, in (the doctor’s) reasonable medical judgment, an abortion is necessary because Ms. Cox has the type of condition the exception requires.”
The Supreme Court opinion acknowledges that the law does not require pregnant mothers seeking an abortion to be “within an inch of death.” But in the same breath, the justices assert that Cox’s physician presented only “a good faith belief” that Cox meets the exception’s requirements, not “reasonable medical” judgment. The opinion acknowledges that not every doctor would reach the same medical conclusions about what is life-threatening and yet eschews this particular doctor’s judgment on the topic.
The justices also tacitly admitted that the law needs clarification, urging the Texas Medical Board to step in. But it is unlikely to do so, unless Gov. Greg Abbott approves.
So, as much as the justices say they do not want to weigh in on medical matters, they have and will continue to do so. It forces women like Cox to visit emergency rooms repeatedly. Having been told that she may not conceive children again if she delivers her baby, Cox had to either wait and see or leave the state for an abortion. She chose the latter.
What’s pro-life about this decision? What’s pro-life about a law that is written so vaguely that the Texas Supreme Court thinks even in this complicated scenario, a woman like Cox still doesn’t meet the exception requirements?
The way this law affects medical professionals in this field isn’t tenable, either. Without further clarification of the existing law, the court system and the Legislature are forcing doctors in complex situations to either risk their careers or, in some cases, violate their consciences to provide care. The ambiguity in this law could further deter valuable health professionals from staying here or coming here to build a career.
Kate Cox’s situation doesn’t seem engineered to test Texas’ abortion law, but it has. Without wanting to be, she has become the poster-child for showcasing why Texas’ law must be amended. With the advice and counsel of physicians in the field of labor and delivery, OB-GYN’s, and emergency physicians, this law must be amended to reflect the nuances of the medical exception to better serve — and save the lives — of both unborn babies and mothers.
Fort Worth Star Telegram
