A Sad State of Affairs

Kate Cox was in a state. Her doctors had informed her that her fetus had no chance of survival and that a failure to end the pregnancy would mean significant future health risks. But Kate Cox was also in another state: Texas. In that state, abortions are heavily restricted and legal exceptions are nearly impossible to identify. Last week, after compounding her health crisis and multiple ER visits with a legal fight in Texas courts for her right to access health care, a Texas court ruled that Cox qualified for an exception and could end her pregnancy. “Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, responded with a brazen threat to prosecute ‘hospitals, doctors, or anyone else’ who would assist in providing the procedure.” Thus, Cox was barred from vital health care while the Texas Supreme Court considered the case. At that point, Kate Cox traveled to another state to terminate her pregnancy. While she was away, the Texas Supreme Court ruled against her. The awful American divide now includes access to health care. One Texas case shows why women can’t rely on legal exceptions to abortion bans.

+ “Texas law does not allow for criminal or civil penalties against the mother for seeking an abortion. But even that could change. Some local jurisdictions in Texas and anti-abortion activists want to make it illegal to leave those jurisdictions to get an abortion, by targeting what they call ‘abortion trafficking.’ Idaho lawmakers passed a similar law last year; it is currently on hold while litigation challenging it moves through the federal courts.” TNR: How Texas Tried to Torture a Woman for Being Pregnant.

+ WaPo (Gift Article): Pharmacies share medical data with police without a warrant. “The revelation could shape the debate over Americans’ expectations of privacy as Texas and other states move to criminalize abortion and drugs related to reproductive health.”