Texas woman who won abortion right has to leave state for care – National & International News – MON 11Dec2023

Texas woman who won abortion right has to leave state for care.

Smith asks SCOTUS to rule on Trump’s claims of immunity in election interference case.

NATIONAL NEWS

Texas woman who won abortion right has to leave state for care

Last week, a Texas judge granted a request for a temporary restraining order on the state’s abortion bans to allow Kate Cox, a mother of two, to have an abortion. Cox is 20 weeks pregnant and recently learned that her fetus has a fatal genetic abnormality. Her OB-GYN says that under the state’s laws, Cox would either have to wait for her baby’s heartbeat to stop so she could have an emergency abortion, or carry the child to full term, only to see it die hours or days later. Because of two previous C-sections Cox has undergone, a third would jeopardize her future fertility.

 District Court Judge Maya Guerra Gamble sided with Cox. Shortly thereafter, Texas’ Attorney General Ken Paxton sent letters warning the facilities where Cox’s physician had privileges that they could still be held liable if they allowed Cox to receive an abortion. Paxton also asked the state Supreme Court for a stay of Judge Gamble’s order, which it has now granted. This weekend, Paxton also threatened to sue Cox’s OB-GYN.

As a result, Ms. Cox, who has already found herself in the emergency room multiple times in the past month, will be leaving to state to get the care she needs. Cox’s attorneys say they still want to continue the case because they want a final ruling.

Texas’ Supreme Court will soon hear a challenge to the state’s abortion bans brought by dozens of patients and physicians. The plaintiffs are demanding clarity on the ban’s vague medical exceptions. Physicians say the state’s laws are too restrictive and place the lives and health of women with wanted pregnancies at risk.

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Special counsel asks SCOTUS to rule on Trump’s claims of immunity

Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith has asked the Supreme Court to rule on former Pres. Trump’s claims of presidential immunity in the 2020 election interference case. The court has answered that they will consider the request on an expedited basis.

Since Smith brought charges earlier this year, Trump has claimed that he is shielded from prosecution for his involvement with efforts to overturn the results of the election. The claim is that Trump was acting in his capacity as President of the United States rather than in his capacity as a candidate. In October, Trump’s team filed a motion to dismiss the case, citing his “absolute immunity” as President. Federal Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected the motion.

Trump then appealed to a circuit court to stay all proceedings in the case pending appeal. Smith is seeking to head off Trump’s attempt to delay the case further, which is set to go to trial March 4. The 6-3 conservative majority on the Supreme Court, three of whom are Trump appointees, makes the move risky. However, the current Justices have ruled against Trump in the past when he attempted to withhold evidence from a Congressional inquiry into Jan. 6.

Smith is also overseeing a separate federal indictment against Trump for his unlawful retention of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.

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