The Texas Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a case challenging the state’s abortion ban on medical exceptions.
The court ruled against a group of women who suffered serious pregnancy complications, making them the first women in the nation to testify in court about being denied access to abortions since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022.
Women sued in March 2023 seeking clarification of when exceptions to the abortion ban are allowed, arguing that the law is confusing for doctors who might turn away patients for fear of repercussions, but the court unanimously upheld the Texas law.
The same issue was at the heart of another lawsuit filed last year by Dallas mother Kate Cox, who asked the court for permission to terminate the pregnancy after her fetus developed a life-threatening condition that sent her to the emergency room multiple times. She ultimately left the state to have the abortion.
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On June 24, 2022, demonstrators marched and rallied near the Texas State Capitol in Austin following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
The court said Friday that the law’s exceptions are broad enough that doctors would misinterpret the law if they decided not to perform an abortion when the mother’s life was at risk.
“Texas law permits abortion to save life,” the court wrote in an order signed by Judge Jane Brand.
The ruling, at least for now, closes another avenue for opponents who have sought to give states more clarity about when exceptions to abortion are allowed. Plaintiffs in the cases testified in court last year about how they carried babies they knew would not survive and then carried them on despite risking their health.
Plaintiff Caitlin Kash was told her unborn baby had severe bone dysplasia and that even simple movements could break its bones while in the womb. Though her life was not in danger, she still chose to leave Texas to have an abortion.
“I wanted to end my child’s suffering before it began,” Kash said. “The state just told me that as a mother, I have no right to make those decisions for my child. If I want to grow my family, if I want to have children, I should get out of Texas.”
Texas law states that doctors who perform abortions can face life in prison, fines of up to $100,000, and loss of their state medical licenses.
“Now they find the courthouse doors are closed to them,” said Molly Duane, staff attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights, which represents women’s groups in Texas. “Given what’s next, it seems Texans have nowhere else to go but to the polls.”
Last year, a lower court issued a preliminary injunction blocking Texas from enforcing its ban on doctors who performed abortions in “good faith” after determining that a pregnancy was unsafe due to medical complications. But the ruling was quickly blocked after the Texas Attorney General’s office appealed to the state Supreme Court.
![Pro-abortion advocates stood outside holding signs, one of which read: "Keeping abortion legal"](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2022/08/1200/675/abortion-ruling-texas.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
The Texas Supreme Court has dismissed a case challenging a medical exception to the state’s anti-abortion law. (Reuters/Callahan O’Hare)
Amanda Zulawski, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, said she was told there was a chance her baby wouldn’t survive. She said she had to wait until she was diagnosed with life-threatening sepsis before undergoing an abortion. She spent three days in intensive care and the infection permanently blocked her fallopian tubes, affecting her ability to have more children.
The court ruled Friday that state law does not require a woman’s death or serious injury to be “imminent” before she can seek medical advice about an abortion.
“The suffering that Mr. Zulawski endured until he became ill enough to be placed on a ventilator, the development of sepsis, and the permanent physical damage he sustained are not consequences defined by law,” the court wrote.
Zulawski said the verdict was “heartbreaking.”
“On behalf of my fellow plaintiffs who the court finds are not sick enough, I am outraged,” Zulawski said. “We are all entitled to bodily autonomy. Every day Texans are told they have no choice. This is disgusting and wrong.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, praised the ruling after his office defended the law in the case.
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Amanda Zulawski introduces President Joe Biden speaking at a pro-abortion rights event on the campus of George Mason University, Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024, in Manassas, Virginia. (Associated Press)
“I will continue to uphold the laws enacted by the Legislature and do everything in my power to protect mothers and babies and uphold the values of Texans,” Paxton wrote on “X,” the platform formerly known as Twitter.
The lawsuit argues that Texas law allows abortions to be performed to save the mother’s life or prevent major bodily harm, but that it has created confusion among doctors, leading some pregnant women with health complications to refuse abortions for fear of permanent damage.
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The plaintiffs argued that anti-abortion laws, which allow abortions to save the mother’s life or prevent the loss of major bodily functions, make doctors afraid of potential liability when states fail to consider a medical emergency.
New guidelines proposed by the state medical board earlier this year were not prescriptive beyond advising doctors to keep careful records of their decisions, and the Republican-led Legislature has no plans to change the law’s language.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.