Friends, have you been following the news in Texas?
Here’s what’s going on:
A pregnant woman named Kate Cox, who’s 31 years old and a mom of two, was told that her fetus had a fatal condition. After several trips to the emergency room, her doctor told her that carrying the pregnancy to term would risk her health and her ability to have children in the future.
But under Texas law, Kate was being forced to continue her pregnancy against her doctor’s recommendations.
So she brought her situation to court, asking for legal authorization to terminate her pregnancy - and was granted a court order.
Then, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton - a man, who has never and will never experience pregnancy himself - intervened, appealing to the Texas Supreme Court, which overturned the court order and determined that Kate must continue this dangerous pregnancy.
I’ll stop here and say for the record: THIS IS TERRIFYING. And what’s more, it’s exactly what we worried would happen when Roe was overturned and states started enacting draconian abortion bans.
Far too often, the “exceptions” that conservative state legislatures write into their abortion bans - when they have exceptions at all - are exceedingly narrow, making it incredibly onerous to secure legal permission for an abortion, even when the life and health of the mother is absolutely at risk.
Once Attorney General Paxton appealed to the Texas Supreme Court, Kate and her family made the decision to leave the state in order to get an abortion rather than wait for a decision to come down.
I’m thankful that she was able to prioritize getting the care she needed, but the fact that we are putting women in positions like this is unconscionable.
No one should have to ask permission, go to court, or travel out of state just to make lifesaving health care choices about their own body.
Until we are able to pass legislation that guarantees the right to abortion at the federal level, we are going to keep seeing horror stories like this one in the news.
We need to focus ALL our energy on taking back the House in 2024 and electing Democrats who will protect reproductive freedom.
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