Hours after a Texas judge granted a woman's request to have an abortion, the state's attorney general sent a letter to hospitals in Houston, saying they may face civil and legal consequences if they permit the procedure to occur.
On Dec. 7, Travis County District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble sided with a 31-year-old woman, ruling she should be able to receive an abortion after learning her pregnancy puts her health and fertility at risk.
The woman, Kate Cox, learned her fetus had trisomy 18, a rare chromosomal condition likely to cause stillbirth or death shortly after the baby is born. Texas' strict abortion bans prohibited her from getting an abortion, and the Center for Reproductive Rights filed a lawsuit on behalf of Ms. Cox, her husband and physician, asking a judge to grant a temporary restraining order to block the state's abortion bans and allow her to terminate the pregnancy. The judge's order is meant to allow Ms. Cox' OB-GYN to provide an abortion without the threat of prosecution.
Hours after the ruling, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sent a letter to three hospitals in Houston, stating the judge's order "will not insulate you, or anyone else, from civil and criminal liability for violating Texas' abortion bans, including first degree felony prosecutions." The letter was sent to The Methodist Hospital, The Women's Hospital of Texas and Texas Children's Hospital, where Ms. Cox' physician, Damla Karsan, MD, holds privileges.
"Your hospital may be liable for negligent credentialing the physician and failing to exercise appropriate professional judgement, among other potential regulatory and civil violations, if you permit Dr. Karsan to perform an unlawful abortion," the AG's letter reads.
In response, Marc Hearron, senior counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights, told NBC News that "fearmongering has been Ken Paxton's main tactic in enforcing these abortion bans," and that he is "misrepresenting the court's order."
The case is the first of its kind, as few women have sought emergency court orders to receive an abortion, according to NBC.