Texas Supreme Court rules against women who alleged state abortion ban put their health at risk

The Texas Supreme Court said a medical exemption in the state’s abortion ban applies only when a person is at risk of death or serious physical impairment, ruling Friday against women who sued the state with claims that the ban had put their health at risk.

The Texas Supreme Court said a medical exemption in the state’s abortion ban applies only when a person is at risk of death or serious physical impairment, ruling Friday against women who sued the state with claims that the ban had put their health at risk. The state’s highest court, which is made up entirely of Republicans, reversed a lower court’s order that broadened the exception to circumstances in which a pregnancy is “unsafe” for the pregnant person or when there is a fetal condition making it unlikely the fetus will survive. “Because the trial court’s order opens the door to permit abortion to address any pregnancy risk, it is not a faithful interpretation of the law,” the state Supreme Court said. The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by several Texas women who suffered serious health complications in their desired pregnancies. They alleged the state’s strict abortion laws put their lives and health in danger when they were forced to wait until their health seriously deteriorated before receiving the procedure or were denied an abortion altogether until they traveled out of state. The Texas Supreme Court said the challengers did not prove the abortion ban, with its narrow medical emergency exemption, violated the state constitution. The office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who was defending the abortion ban, did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.