Biden slams ‘legal and medical chaos’ in Texas after woman forced to seek out-of-state abortion

President Biden on Tuesday castigated the state of Texas after a pregnant woman whose unborn baby had a fatal condition was forced to leave the state to seek an abortion.

The Texas Supreme Court had ruled against the woman, Kate Cox, who had sued Texas to obtain an abortion after her baby was diagnosed with trisomy 18, which carries a very high likelihood of miscarriage or stillbirth and a low survival rate. Biden called the case “outrageous.” 

“Legal and medical chaos, as we are witnessing in states like Texas, Kentucky and Arizona, is a direct result of Roe v. Wade being overturned, and as we predicted would happen, women’s health and lives now hang in the balance,” the president said in a statement. 

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“Republican elected officials have imposed dangerous abortion bans that jeopardize women’s health, force them to travel out of state for care, and threaten to criminalize doctors. Their agenda is extreme and out-of-step with the vast majority of Americans,” he added, vowing to continue his administration’s effort to have Congress codify federal abortion protections.  

The Center for Reproductive Rights, an abortion rights group that represents Cox, said Monday that she was forced to leave Texas to obtain an abortion. 

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“Kate has been unable to get an abortion in Texas, even though her fetus has a fatal condition and continuing the pregnancy threatens her future fertility,” the organization said. 

The baby’s condition, trisomy 18, occurs in approximately 1 in 2,500 diagnosed pregnancies, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine. There is no live birth in about 70% of pregnancies involving the diagnosis that proceeds past 12 weeks gestational age, according to a legal filing that the two groups submitted to the court.

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Texas’ abortion restrictions make narrow exceptions when the life of the mother is in danger, but not for fetal anomalies. Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton argued that Cox had not shown that any of the complications in her pregnancy rose to the level of threatening her life. The state Supreme Court agreed with Paxton, ruling that Cox had failed to demonstrate her pregnancy fell under the exception.

Cox, who lives in the Dallas area, was believed to be the first woman in the U.S. to ask a court for permission for an abortion since Roe v. Wade was overturned last year.

“No woman should be forced to go to court or flee her home state just to receive the health care she needs. But that is exactly what happened in Texas thanks to Republican elected officials, and it is simply outrageous,” Biden said.

“This should never happen in America, period.” 

Fox News Digital’s Bradford Betz and the Associated Press contributed to this report.