The Texas Supreme Court has overturned a court order that would have allowed a Dallas-area woman to get an abortion. 

The ruling came down the same day Kate Cox's attorneys announced she was leaving Texas to end her nonviable pregnancy.  


What You Need To Know

  • The Texas Supreme Court on Monday night overturned a ruling from a lower court that would have permitted a Dallas-area woman to receive an abortion

  • Kate Cox sued the state last week, asking the courts to allow her to terminate her pregnancy when she found out that her fetus had a lethal fetal anomaly

  • A Travis County district judge granted a temporary restraining order saying Cox fell within exemptions to the state's abortion bans

  • Cox left Texas this week in order to end her nonviable pregnancy

 

Cox sued the state last week, asking the courts to allow her to terminate her pregnancy after she found out her fetus had a lethal fetal anomaly. 

A Travis County district judge granted a temporary restraining order saying Cox fell within the exemptions to the state's abortion bans and that her doctor performing the abortion was protected from potential liability. 

But that was put on hold by the state's high court after a request from Attorney General Ken Paxton. 

Monday night, the Supreme Court struck down the lower court ruling, saying doctors must use their reasonable medical judgment and courts "cannot go further by entering that arena."

In its opinion, the court also said that Cox's doctor did not prove that Cox met the conditions required for a medical exemption and that women who meet those standards need not seek a court order to obtain the procedure. 

The high court also recommended the Texas Medical Board issue further guidance. 

"There's only one thing that I can tell that's clear from the Supreme Court's decision at 6 p.m. tonight and that's that the procedure for this family, this health care procedure, is blocked in Texas," Austin Kaplan, one of Cox's attorneys, said in an interview on Capital Tonight. 

The Texas Supreme Court also heard arguments last month in Zurawski v. Texas. 

More than 20 women in Texas are part of the lawsuit alleging they were denied medical care for their complicated pregnancies as a result of the state's abortion laws. 

"What happens next, I don't think anyone really knows," Kaplan said when asked whether he could read into how the justices might rule.

Click the video link above to watch our full interview with Kaplan.