Texas Supreme Court rejects challenge to state abortion law over medical exceptions

AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Supreme Court on Friday rejected a challenge to one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the U.S. following a lawsuit filed by women who have had serious complications during pregnancy.

The decision by the court, whose nine justices are all elected Republicans, is the latest decision to uphold Texas’ abortion ban, which critics say does not provide enough clarity about when exceptions are allowed.

“Texas law permits life-saving abortion,” the court wrote in the order signed by Republican Justice Jane Bland.

Last summer, State District Judge Jessica Mangrum had granted a temporary injunction stop Texas from enforcing the ban against doctors who, in their “good faith judgment,” terminated a pregnancy they deemed unsafe due to complications. But that was immediately blocked by an appeal from the Texas attorney general’s office to the state Supreme Court.

The process archived March 2023 did not seek to repeal Texas’ abortion ban, but rather to force more clarity on when exceptions are allowed.

He argued that the law’s exemptions, which allow an abortion to save the mother’s life or prevent the deterioration of a major bodily function, are written too vaguely and create confusion among doctors, who turned away some pregnant women who suffered from complications. health care because they feared repercussions.

The plaintiffs said the abortion ban has made medical professionals wary of facing liability if the state does not consider the situation a medical emergency.

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Stengle reported from Dallas.