DFW Woman Obtains Court Order Allowing an Abortion, A First Since Dobbs and SB 8

The story is all over the news, so for now I will provide a few links to the news coverage and to some of the key documents in the case:

• News coverage:
• CNN
• NPR
• WaPo (possible firewall)
• NY Times (firewall)
• Yahoo News
  
  
• SB 8 (Tex. Leg., 2021): the so-called "heartbeat law," which provides that "a physician may not knowingly perform or induce an abortion on a pregnant woman if the physician detected a fetal heartbeat for the unborn child . . .  or failed to perform a test to detect a fetal heartbeat."
  
  
• Complaint (filed Dec. 5, 2023) -- the complaint alleges that "[o]n November 28, 2023, Ms. Kate Cox received the results of an amniocentesis which confirmed prior prenatal testing—her third pregnancy has full trisomy 18, meaning her pregnancy may not survive to birth, and, if it does, her baby would be stillborn or survive for only minutes, hours, or days."
  
  
• Trisomy 18 (from the National Library of Medicine) -- "Due to the presence of several life-threatening medical problems, many individuals with trisomy 18 die before birth or within their first month."
  
  
• Cleveland Clinic: At least 95% of fetuses with the condition don’t survive to full term, meaning pregnancies end in miscarriage or babies are stillborn. Infants born with trisomy 18 have many birth defects, which can cause life-threatening consequences. Almost 40% don’t survive labor, and less than 10% live past their first year.
  
  
• Trial Court's Order Granting TRO Against State Officials to Permit Abortion (Dec. 7, 2023, 10:21am)
  
  
• Letter from Attorney General Ken Paxton (Dec. 7, 2023, 1:49pm) -- posted to Twitter (now "X") -- sent to three Houston hospitals and addressed "To Whom It May Concern" -- 
  
  
  
  
  
  

  
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SB 8 was the first outrage. Requiring a pregnant person in Ms. Cox's circumstance to go to court for an order to preserve her health, including her future ability to have another child, continues the outrage. And the AG's letter to hospitals where Ms. Cox's physician has medical staff privileges is about what we've come to expect from that office.