By: ELEANOR KLIBANOFF

The Texas Supreme Court ruled that Cox did not qualify for an abortion, even as it clarified in that ruling that a medical emergency need not be imminent to justify performing the procedure. Several groups, including the anti-abortion Texas Alliance for Life, called on the board to add this language to the guidance, which Zaafran said they would consider.

By: Celine Castronuovo

The Texas Alliance for Life argued Friday the Texas law is necessary, claiming it is “saving unborn babies’ and pregnant women’s lives.”

“The law allows doctors to perform abortions to save pregnant women’s lives in rare and tragic cases when medically necessary,” said Amy O’Donnell, the organization’s communications director.

By: Susan Milligan

Amy O’Donnell, communications director for the Texas Alliance for Life, says Cox’s story exposes the stakes for two people – Kate Cox and the daughter she is carrying.

“I believe that people are moved by Kate Cox’s story. The pro-life side is moved to respond to the value of her unborn child’s life,” O’Donnell says. Even if the fetus were to die soon after birth or survive with a disability, “we believe it’s discriminatory to discriminate against anyone who has a disability,” O’Donnell says. “Kate Cox’s daughter is no exception.”

The reelection campaign of Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris is seizing on the stories of women like Cox to draw a distinction with Republicans – especially former President Donald Trump, who said during his 2016 campaign that there needed to be some punishment for women who have abortions.

By: John C. Moritz

Amy O’Donnell, a policy analyst and communications director for the Texas Alliance for Life, acknowledged that abortion rights activists have skillfully used the Cox case to bring the national spotlight to their cause.

Kate Cox, who sued for the right to have an abortion after learning that her fetus had a condition that is nearly always fatal, left the state to get an abortion. The state Supreme Court ruled against her.
While saying “our hearts go out to the Cox family,” O’Donnell said abortion rights organizations are using “a lot of misinformation” about whether a baby can survive trisomy 18.

“It’s incredibly important that we educate Texans and people in general, not just on the issue around trisomy 18, and the fact that that’s not always fatal, and that every life is valuable and worthy of protection,” O’Donnell said. “But also that our laws clearly allow doctors to intervene to save a woman’s life or to save her from the risk of impairment, substantial impairment of a major bodily function such as fertility.”