By Daniel Wiessner
Sept 16 (Reuters) - The family of a Texas woman who died from a pregnancy-related condition has sued the state's Republican attorney general, Ken Paxton, and doctors who treated her, claiming an abortion could have saved her life and the state's near-total ban on the procedure is unconstitutional.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday in state court in San Antonio by the family of Tierra Walker claims her doctors refused her requests to perform an abortion even though she was having a medical emergency that qualified for an exception from Texas' strict abortion laws.
Walker, who was 37 and 20 weeks pregnant, died in December 2024 two days after her final hospital visit for symptoms of preeclampsia, a potentially fatal complication of pregnancy marked by high blood pressure, according to the lawsuit.
The treatment for preeclampsia is immediate delivery of the baby or an abortion, and the complaint says Walker qualified for an emergency abortion under Texas law. But instead of receiving one, she was repeatedly told her condition would improve and sent home, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit says Paxton and other state officials "have imposed a merciless blanket prohibition on abortion that intimidates doctors into inaction and breeds extreme fear among Texas’ medical establishment."
Along with Paxton, the lawsuit names as defendants the Texas Medical Board, which regulates the practice of medicine in the state and issues guidance to medical professionals, the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and several doctors who treated Walker.
Paxton's office and the other defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.
A pair of 2021 Texas laws prohibit performing or inducing an abortion, with an exception for life-threatening medical emergencies, and bar providers from performing abortions if a fetus has detectable cardiac activity. A novel provision of Texas' abortion ban also allows private citizens to sue providers on behalf of the state.
The laws took effect in 2022 after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned its landmark Roe v. Wade decision that had established a constitutional right to have an abortion.
The lawsuit filed by Walker's family claims the defendants violated Walker's right to life under the U.S. Constitution and a federal law requiring hospitals to provide emergency care regardless of a patient's ability to pay. It further alleges that Texas' abortion bans violate the state constitution.
(Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Aurora Ellis)
