The Supreme Court in Texas has unanimously rejected a challenge from 20 women who said they were denied medically necessary abortions under the state’s near-total abortion ban.
BBC reports that the the plaintiffs, who were joined in the suit by two doctors, had sued Texas for clarity on the ban’s sole exception – medical emergencies – arguing it was too vague, leaving patients in danger and doctors in fear of punishment.
But the nine judges disagreed.
“Texas law permits a life-saving abortion, wrote Justice Jane Bland, “permitting a physician to intervene …a woman’s life-threatening physical condition before death or serious physical impairment are imminent, as long as a doctor uses ‘reasonable medical judgment’.”
Abortions are not permitted for foetuses diagnosed with a “life-limiting” conditions, the court wrote, unless the mother’s life is also at risk.
Doctors who violate the law face up to 99 years in prison, $100 000 fines and the loss of their medical licences.
Amanda Zurawski, the named plaintiff in the suit, said the decision felt “like a gut punch”.
Zurawski was 18 weeks into a much-wanted pregnancy when she experienced preterm pre-labour rupture of membranes (PPROM). Doctors told her that her unborn daughter would not survive but refused to perform an abortion as long as there was a foetal heartbeat.
She developed sepsis and spent days in the ICU.
The other 19 plaintiffs shared similar stories of being denied abortions in Texas, despite carrying risky or non-viable pregnancies. Some travelled out of state to obtain the procedure while others said they waited to become “sick enough” that doctors could perform an abortion.
One of the women, whose foetus did not develop a skull, said she had to watch her baby suffer before dying hours after birth.
“I gave birth to my daughter and watched her suffocate,” she said. “It’s just not something that anyone should have to see.”
The plaintiffs were represented by the pro-choice advocacy group, the Centre for Reproductive Rights, who said it was the first time pregnant women themselves had taken action against anti-abortion laws since the the US Supreme Court overturned the nationwide right to an abortion in June 2022.
Lawsuits filed by women in other states with strict bans have followed.
Some observers say this latest ruling could offer an indication of how the US Supreme Court may rule on a similar case, which could determine how close a woman must be to receive an abortion even in states with strict bans.
A ruling is expected next month.
BBC article – Texas Supreme Court rejects abortion ban challenge (Open access)
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