A pregnant Texas woman who says her unborn baby has a genetic condition and carrying the child to term could threaten her life filed suit against the state Tuesday, asking a court to declare she has the right to terminate the pregnancy.
Kate Cox said the state’s current abortion ban puts her husband and her gynecologist at legal risk if she has an abortion in Texas.
The lawsuit is believed to be one of the first attempts in the country by an individual seeking a court-ordered abortion since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, according to the New York Times.
Texas is a particularly bad state for the “go elsewhere” argument. It’s a 13-hr road trip to pick up my kids from A to B. A to B in Texas can be far longer than that. And it’s fairly costly. Easy $150-$200 for my trip. That’s crushing to some people.
And where are they to go? Texas is surround by other red states, whose laws are likely the same, or even less friendly.
I dearly want the travel issue to have its day in court. Cannot imagine that passes Constitutional muster.
New Mexico (which the local jurisdictions are doing their best to criminalize interstate travel, despite the Constitution and Court)
Kansas, which voted to protect women’s right to reproductive healthcare.
Colorado. And then it gets further and further away after that. If someone is on the east side of Texas, Kansas and then Illinois are probably the closest safe & legal options.