AUSTIN (Nexstar) — The Texas Supreme Court on Friday unanimously ruled against plaintiffs in Zurawski v. Texas, a case brought by more than 20 women alleging the state’s abortion ban puts women with pregnancy complications at risk. The state’s highest civil court vacated a Travis County trial court’s ruling that blocked the state from enforcing the law against doctors.
The challenge was led by Amanda Zurawski, a Texas woman who nearly died from septic shock from pregnancy complications after her doctor told her state law does not allow her to provide an abortion.
The court held that the medical exceptions in Texas’ abortion ban are sufficiently broad, and do not require doctors to allow their patients to approach death before intervening.
“A physician who tells a patient, ‘Your life is threatened by a complication that has arisen during your pregnancy, and you may die, or there is a serious risk you will suffer substantial physical impairment unless an abortion is performed,’ and in the same breath states ‘but the law won’t allow me to provide an abortion in these circumstances’ is simply wrong in that legal assessment,” the court wrote.
The ruling evoked emotional reaction from many of the plaintiffs and their doctors who believed the law tied their hands.
“Today feels like I’m reliving my child’s diagnosis,” Kaitlyn Kash said. Her child was diagnosed with skeletal dysplasia in the womb, a deadly genetic disorder. “If you want to grow your family, if you want to have children, you should definitely get out of Texas.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton celebrated the ruling on Friday. He initiated the Supreme Court’s review by asking them to overturn the trial court’s injunction.
“I will continue to defend the laws enacted by the Legislature and uphold the values of the people of Texas by doing everything in my power to protect mothers and babies,” he said.
Dallas Congressman and Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Colin Allred condemned the ruling, pledging to advocate for abortion access nationwide if elected.
“To force someone to carry out a nonviable pregnancy – at risk to her own life – is outrageous. This decision allows Texas’ extreme abortion ban to continue to endanger women and deny them the health care they need,” Allred said. “This ban has gone way too far, and in the Senate, I will fight to restore the freedoms of Texas women.”
The Court’s ruling also provides insight into a similar challenge from Kate Cox, a Dallas woman who asserts her life and future fertility was put at risk when she could not abort a fetus diagnosed with Trisomy-18. Many of those pregnancies result in miscarriage and a majority of the babies who are born with the genetic disorder die before their first birthday, according to the Mayo Clinic.
“The current law… plainly does not permit abortion based solely on a diagnosis that an
unborn child has an abnormal condition, even a life-limiting one,” the court wrote. “Rather, the law examines such a diagnosis in the context of the mother’s physical health. An unborn child’s diagnosis must be coupled with reasonable medical judgment that the mother has a life-threatening physical condition and that an abortion is indicated to avert her death or serious physical impairment.”
This breaking coverage is ongoing and will be updated throughout the day.
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