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The Texas Supreme Court temporarily halted a district court order<\/a> on Friday that would have allowed a Texas woman carrying a fetus with a fatal condition to obtain an abortion, following a request from state\u2019s Attorney General Ken Paxton.<\/strong><\/p>\n Kate Cox,<\/strong> 31, a mother of two young children in the Dallas area, is 20 weeks pregnant with a fetus that was diagnosed in late November with trisomy 18, a condition that, as Cox wrote<\/a> in an op-ed, \u201ccannot sustain life.\u201d Her case is the first instance of a pregnant woman seeking an emergency court-ordered abortion since the overturning of Roe v. Wade<\/em> in 2022.<\/p>\n The state\u2019s supreme court issued the one-page stay without ruling on the merits of the case, and didn\u2019t say when it would rule definitively on it. The Friday night ruling came in response to a request from the AG, who warned the court that \u201ceach hour [the temporary restraining order] remains in place is an hour that Plaintiffs believe themselves free to perform and procure an elective abortion.\u201d Paxton added that \u201cnothing can restore the unborn child\u2019s life that will be lost as a result.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to the appeal, Paxton wrote<\/a> a letter to three Houston hospitals, arguing that the district court ruling would not insulate them \u201cfrom civil and criminal liability for violating Texas\u2019 abortion laws.\u201d Doctors convicted of illegally providing abortions in the Lone Star State can face life in prison and fines of above six figures.<\/p>\n The Center for Reproductive Rights, which is representing Cox, called<\/a> Paxton\u2019s appeal \u201cstunning in its disregard for Ms. Cox\u2019s life, fertility, and the rule of law.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhile we still hope that the Court ultimately rejects the state\u2019s request and does so quickly, in this case, we fear that justice delayed will be justice denied,\u201d said<\/a> Molly Duane<\/strong>, senior staff attorney at the center.<\/p>\n In her lawsuit, Cox said that she would have to undergo a third cesarean section if the pregnancy continues, a procedure that would jeopardize her potential for having additional children, which she has said she wants.<\/p>\n \u201cThe idea that Ms. Cox wants desperately to be pregnant, and this law might actually cause her to lose that ability, is shocking and would be a genuine miscarriage of justice,\u201d wrote Guerra Gamble<\/strong>, an elected Democrat, in her ruling granting Cox access to the procedure.<\/p>\n