The Texas Supreme Court unanimously rejected a challenge to the state’s abortion laws Friday. The issue at hand was whether Texas’s civil abortion law prohibiting abortion unless a woman is facing a life threatening condition violated the state constitution.
The case, which is known as Zurawski v. Texas, was brought by 22 patients and physicians, represented by The Center for Reproductive Rights. Texas passed its abortion laws in 2021, and currently prohibits an abortion unless it is deemed life saving. The plaintiffs in this case, many whom women who suffered from serious complications during their pregnancy, and Dr. Damla Karsan, challenged the authority of the Human Life Protection Act. Under this act, a physician has the legal right to proceed with the abortion if the woman is suffering from a life threatening physical condition. Death does not have to be imminent, however. It has been argued that the medical exception to the law was unclear.
In the opinion presented by the court, Justice Bland did not grant much clarity,
Under the Human Life Protection Act, a woman with a life-threatening physical condition and her physician have the legal authority to proceed with an abortion to save the woman’s life or major bodily function, in the exercise of reasonable medical judgment and with the woman’s informed consent.
The Supreme Court ruled that Dr. Karson did not demonstrate that the Human Life Protection Act was narrower than the Texas Constitution. Therefore, they vacated the trial court’s order for an injunction on the law.
This case follows a case by Texas Supreme Court in late 2023. In this case, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that a woman who had been suffering from a non-viable pregnancy, was not eligible for the medical exception. After the plaintiff was in and out of the hospital, she ultimately went to another state to receive the abortion.
The opinion issued by the court has been criticized by supporters of abortion rights. Representative Colin Allred, who is also running for Senate, released a press release addressing the opinion:
To force someone to carry out a nonviable pregnancy – at risk to her own life – is outrageous. This decision allows Texas’ extreme abortion ban to continue to endanger women and deny them the health care they need. We are here because of Texas’ extreme abortion ban, which Ted Cruz proudly supports and called ‘perfectly reasonable.’
After Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed a federal right to an abortion, was overturned in 2022, multiple cases have arose concerning whether medical exceptions to abortion bans apply. While this is one of the first cases decided, many others are currently pending in several other states, as well as the US Supreme Court.
