Texas top court rules against woman’s abortion

STORY: The highest court in Texas has ruled against Kate Cox, a pregnant woman seeking an emergency abortion under the medical exception for the state's near-total abortion ban.The unanimous decision from the state Supreme Court on Monday came after hours after lawyers for Cox said she would leave Texas to end her pregnancy and receive necessary care while the court considered the case.It had halted a lower court ruling that allowed the procedure, after an appeal from the state's Attorney General Ken Paxton on Friday.On Monday, the top court said that Cox's doctor, Damla Karsan, when seeking the lower court's authorization:"…did not assert that Ms. Cox has a 'life-threatening physical condition' or that, in Dr. Karsan’s reasonable medical judgment, an abortion is necessary because Ms. Cox has the type of condition the exception requires."The court, whose nine justices are all Republicans, said Karsan had only asserted "good faith belief" that the procedure was medically necessary for Cox, and that belief was not enough to qualify for the exception under the Texan ban. Cox filed for court approval to end her pregnancy after learning in late November that her fetus had a fatal condition.She was about 20 weeks pregnant then.In her lawsuit, the 31-year-old said continuing with the pregnancy would threaten her health and future fertility.She and her husband have two children and have said they wanted more.Cox's attorney Molly Duane, at the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement:"This ruling should enrage every Texan to their core… If Kate can’t get an abortion in Texas, who can? Kate’s case is proof that exceptions don’t work, and it’s dangerous to be pregnant in any state with an abortion ban."