A woman in Texas, who was pregnant and attempting to obtain legal approval for an abortion, has gone to a different state due to the strictness of the ban, according to her lawyers on Monday.

The news was revealed while Kate Cox, whose unborn child has a terminal illness, was waiting for a decision from the Texas Supreme Court regarding the legality of her receiving an abortion. Her baby’s prognosis is very poor and her legal representatives argued that carrying the pregnancy to term put both her well-being and future fertility at risk.

Nancy Northup, the CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, stated that Cox’s health is at risk. Cox has been going back and forth to the emergency room and could not wait any longer. The Center for Reproductive Rights is representing Cox in this matter.

The organization did not reveal the whereabouts of Cox. On Monday, she would have been 20 weeks and 6 days into her pregnancy.

After the announcement was made, the Texas Supreme Court released its verdict, deciding against Cox.

“The court stated on Monday afternoon that these laws represent the policy decision made by the Legislature, which must be honored by the courts.” The high court had previously put a hold on a lower judge’s ruling granting Cox an abortion on Friday night.

The recently implemented abortion ban in Texas allows for exceptions only in cases where the mother’s life is at risk, but not for fetal abnormalities. Over the past week, Ken Paxton, a Republican Attorney General, has been contesting that Cox, who is 31 years old, did not provide evidence that any complications in her pregnancy posed a threat to her life.

A woman residing in the Dallas area, who is a mother of two, requested court approval for an abortion, making her potentially the first woman in the United States to do so since the overturning of Roe v. Wade last year. This legal action gained significant attention as it serves as a crucial challenge to abortion restrictions in Texas and other Republican-led states, where terminating a pregnancy is banned at almost all points of gestation.

Cox’s lawsuit was followed by a pregnant woman in Kentucky filing a request for a court’s permission to have an abortion. However, there has not been a decision made on this case yet.

Paxton in Texas strongly opposed Cox’s abortion request and took action to stop it. He wrote to three hospitals in Houston, cautioning them of potential legal repercussions, both criminal and civil, if they allowed Cox’s doctor to perform the procedure. Additionally, he argued that Cox had not proven that her life was in immediate danger, pointing out that she had been discharged after multiple trips to the emergency room.

During her initial two pregnancies, Cox underwent cesarean deliveries. In her legal case, she claimed that inducing labor would pose a potential danger of uterine rupture due to her previous C-sections, and that a full-term surgery would jeopardize her ability to carry future pregnancies. However, Paxton argued that these arguments were insufficient.

Paxton’s office stated in a weekend filing that the only consideration is whether Ms. Cox’s condition falls under the exception, regardless of the expected lifespan of the child.

Dr. Leilah Zahedi-Spung, a specialist in maternal fetal medicine in Colorado and a member of Physicians for Reproductive Health, explained that when a pregnancy is diagnosed with fatal fetal anomalies, the only potential harm is to the pregnant person and there is unfortunately no benefit for the unborn child.

Zahedi-Spung stated that there is no benefit to risking your body by prolonging the pregnancy, as it does not affect the survival rate.

Cox was informed by medical professionals that her unborn baby has trisomy 18, a condition with a high chance of resulting in a miscarriage or stillbirth and low chances of survival, as stated in her recently filed lawsuit in Austin. They also advised her that inducing labor or carrying the pregnancy to full term could potentially impact her future ability to have children.

According to a legal document submitted by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, about 1 in 2,500 diagnosed pregnancies are affected by Trisomy 18. Additionally, approximately 70% of these pregnancies that reach 12 weeks gestational age do not result in a live birth.

Rarely do national discussions on abortion touch upon the topic of terminating pregnancies due to fetal abnormalities or other serious medical issues. While there is a lack of recent data on the prevalence of these procedures in the United States, specialists estimate that they make up a small portion of all abortions performed.

For a long time, Texas has been known for having very strict laws regarding abortion. Currently, there are still attempts to make it more difficult for pregnant women to travel to other states where abortions are allowed. Recently, a judge in Texas declared that these restrictions do not apply to providing assistance for women seeking abortions in other states.

The medical director for Trust Women, Dr. Christina Bourne, who runs abortion clinics in Oklahoma City and Wichita, Kansas, believes that determining whether someone’s life is in immediate danger can be a matter of personal interpretation. According to her, there is no definitive definition of what constitutes an imminent risk.

According to Bourne, physicians are currently working in a perplexing environment.

“I am worried about the health outcomes of pregnant individuals living in states with legal restrictions,” she expressed.

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The news came from Dallas, according to Stengle.