In a unanimous decision, the conservative Texas Supreme Court on Friday rejected a pro-life legal challenge to the state’s restrictive abortion laws, ruling that the limited exemptions are sufficient even for pregnancies involving serious complications.
The court dismissed a lawsuit that argued that the narrow health exceptions in Texas’ abortion ban are too vaguely defined, causing doctors to turn away some patients with major pregnancy issues out of fear of violating the law.
The nine justices stated “Texas law permits a life-saving abortion” and said doctors would be misinterpreting the statutes if they decline to perform abortions when a mother’s life is truly in danger.
However, the plaintiffs, including Amanda Zurawski who developed life-threatening sepsis, claim the ruling ignores how the vague exemption language is creating uncertainty.
“I am outraged on behalf of my fellow plaintiffs who the Court deemed not sick enough,” Zurawski said after the decision. “We all deserve bodily autonomy. Every day, people in Texas are being told that they have no options. It’s sickening and wrong.”
The lawsuit did not aim to completely overturn Texas’ abortion ban entirely, but sought to loosen it significantly for vague medical emergencies.
Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, who defended the law, praised the ruling upholding legislation he says “protects mothers and babies.”
Under the Texas statutes, doctors who perform illegal abortions can face life prison sentences and six-figure fines unless they can prove a medical emergency existed.
Exemptions are only permitted to save the mother’s life or prevent “substantial impairment of major bodily function.”
With the Republican-controlled state legislature unlikely to amend the law’s language, the court decision ensures Texas’ strictures on abortion access will remain among the nation’s most stringent in the post-Roe landscape.