Pregnancy And Childbirth

Attorneys for a pregnant Texas woman who sought court permission for an abortion in an unprecedented challenge to one of the most restrictive bans in the U.S. say she has left the state to obtain the procedure. The announcement came Monday as 31-year-old Kate Cox awaited a ruling from the Texas Supreme Court over whether she could legally obtain an abortion under narrow exceptions to the state’s bans. A judge gave Cox permission last week but that decision was put on hold by the state’s all-Republican high court. The court ruled against Cox later Monday. Cox's lawsuit quickly became a high-profile test of bans in Texas and a dozen other GOP-controlled states, where abortion is prohibited at nearly all stages of pregnancy.

After the Texas Supreme Court ruled against a Texas woman seeking permission to obtain an abortion in the state, three other state top courts are scheduled to hear abortion cases this week. In Arizona, the Supreme Court is deciding which of two separate laws banning abortion should be enforced. In New Mexico, the top court is weighing a request by cities and counties to enforce local bans. And in Wyoming, a judge is considering whether a challenge to a ban will go to trial. A Kentucky woman is also asking for immediate abortion access, but it's not clear when a court there might take up the case.

A pregnant woman in Kentucky has filed a lawsuit demanding the right to an abortion, the second legal challenge in days to sweeping abortion bans that have taken hold in more than a dozen U.S. states since Roe v. Wade was overturned last year. The suit, filed in state court in Louisville, says Kentucky’s near-total prohibition against abortion violates the plaintiff’s rights to privacy and self-determination under the state constitution. The plaintiff, identified as Jane Doe, is about eight weeks pregnant and is seeking class-action status to include other Kentuckians who are or will become pregnant and want to have an abortion in the state.