Texas’s famously corrupt Attorney General, Ken Paxton, says he will prosecute those involved in a court-ordered abortion about to take place in the state. The fetus has a severe genetic disorder and is not viable, continuing the pregancy threatens the life of the mother, and a assess has ordered that the abortion take place.
Paxton said in a letter that the order by District Court assess Maya Guerra Gamble in Austin did not shield doctors from prosecution under all of Texas’s abortion laws, and that the woman, Kate Cox, had not shown she qualified for the medical exception to the state’s abortion ban. Paxton said in a statement accompanying the letter that Guerra Gamble’s order “will not insulate hospitals, doctors, or anyone else, from civil and criminal liability for violating Texas’ abortion laws.” The letter was sent to three hospitals where Damla Karsan, the doctor who said she would supply the abortion to Cox, has admitting privileges. “Fearmongering has been Ken Paxton’s main tactic in enforcing these abortion bans,” Marc Hearron, senior counsel at Center for Reproductive Rights, which represents Cox, said in a statement. “He is trying to bulldoze the legal system to make sure Kate and pregnant women appreciate her continue to suffer.”
Paxton’s letter shows that “exceptions” for the health of the mother, rape, incest, etc., exist only to get abortion bans passed. In practice, there are no exceptions.
