Following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down Roe v. Wade, Texas resident Kate Cox has left the state to have an emergency abortion that she and her doctors say could potentially save her life—or at the very least, her future fertility.
Cox is a 31-year-old mom of two children, and at 20 weeks into her third pregnancy, she received a diagnosis of a “fatal fetal condition,” TIME reported. She asked the court to grant her an emergency abortion since the new abortion laws in Texas ban abortion “at all stages of pregnancy without exceptions for rape or incest, and with narrow exemptions for pregnant people at risk of death,” per the ACLU of Texas website.
The Texas abortion law bans abortions after six weeks, which is typically before a woman even knows she’s pregnant, making it one of the strictest abortion laws in the country.
The Texas Supreme Court temporarily overruled a lower court’s ruling that would have allowed her to get an abortion. In the lower court case, “Cox filed a temporary restraining order and permanent injunction on Dec. 5, asking the court to allow her to terminate her pregnancy at 20 weeks because she received a diagnosis of a fatal fetal condition,” TIME reported.
Her fetus has Trisomy 18, which means there is a greater risk of miscarriage and stillbirth, and, according to a study published by the National Library of Medicine, “The complexity and the severity of the clinical presentation at birth and the high neonatal and infant mortality make the perinatal and neonatal management of babies with trisomy 18 particularly challenging, controversial, and unique among multiple congenital anomaly syndromes.”
According to the Cleveland Clinic, in at least 95% of cases, fetuses don’t survive full term.
The NLM study says the major cause of death is central apnea, cardiac failure, and respiratory problems and obstructions.
Nancy Northup, president and CEO for the Center for Reproductive Rights said in a statement that Cox’s health is on the line. “She’s been in and out of the emergency room and she couldn’t wait any longer.”
In the original lawsuit, Cox’s OB-GYN who would be performing the abortion, and her husband were also plaintiffs.
If the court rules in Cox’s favor, she would be able to not only legally terminate her pregnancy, but also her physician and husband wouldn’t be held liable for aiding an abortion under Texas S.B. 8, so they wouldn’t be punished, according to TIME.
TIME reported, “The case is the first of its kind in 50 years, and heralds a burdensome new legal strategy for pregnant people navigating the complex legal landscape of abortion after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year.”
According to CNN, Cox has left the state as of Dec. 11 to have the procedure.