Texas Supreme Court Denies Kate Cox's Abortion Request

The Texas Supreme Court ruled that Kate Cox, a woman carrying a fetus with a fatal condition, did not qualify for an abortion under state laws based on her doctor's "good faith belief" that she needs the procedure. Texas prohibits abortions beginning at fertilization, with exceptions only for cases where the pregnant patient risks death or substantial impairment of major bodily function. The ruling has broad ramifications for future interpretation of abortion laws in the state and comes after Cox's attorneys said she had left the state to terminate her pregnancy. Cox is the first woman to have asked a court to authorize an abortion since before Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973.