The Kate Cox Situation
An activist doctor and abortion rights group take advantage of a mother in crisis.
Kate Cox is a loving mom of two who, by all accounts, was looking forward to having a third child. She’d had difficult births, both resulting in caesarian sections (c/secs). But, with the news of a genetic anomaly and the vast number of ultrasounds showing multiple deformities, this third pregnancy has turned into a nightmare situation for any parent. According to the original complaint, Kate had been to the ER several times for cramping and diarrhea (both are potential indicators of preterm labor) and an “unidentified fluid” leak, which was not identified as amniotic fluid, before getting the test results proving Trisomy 18 was the problem.
I have been pregnant seven times but only gave birth three times. All three times, my babies were born prematurely. My oldest born was induced after 43 days of on-and-off labor, including medical intervention to stop my labor on at least four occasions, because I had developed a pinhole leak in the amniotic sac. Two of my three survivors were sent to the NICU. I say this because when it comes to pregnancy and giving birth, I’ve been through the wringer. While none of mine were diagnosed pre-birth with any fatal abnormalities, my heart aches for what Kate Cox has been going through. Her doctors have unequivocally only made the entire situation worse.
After reading through the trial documents posted to the website of the abortion-rights group that is funding her suit, Kate's real problem is that she's already had two c/secs, and most doctors do not want women to have more than three. There is no hard, fast rule about the number of c/secs you are allowed, but the more you have, the riskier each subsequent pregnancy gets.
The fact that the lawyers and media keep saying she's "leaking an unidentified fluid" gives pause. Doctors can and do identify amniotic fluid when there is a potential leak. Based on the information quoted in the lawsuit, it seems very unlikely that Kate’s water broke.
Kate has also been told that she is at risk for a uterine rupture if she were to carry the baby to term. No evidence to support this claim is presented in the lawsuit, and statistically, it is unlikely as only anywhere from 2-4% of women experience a rupture after two c/secs. She is currently about 21-22 weeks along. If she's in so much danger of a uterine rupture because she carried this baby to term, carrying a healthy baby to term would also be extremely risky for her, and she shouldn't have any more kids.
The biggest problem, in this case, is her activist doctor, Dr. Damla Karsan. The lawsuit says that Kate, who lives in Dallas, searched out and selected Houston-based Dr. Karsan after her Dallas doctors told her that her life was not at risk; thus, she did not qualify for the exemption.
Dr Karsan has been working with the Center for Reproductive Rights for months. She is named in their lawsuit against the state’s abortion laws. That lawsuit is extensively cited in Cox's suit. In that case, a judge had issued an injunction that gave doctors a “good faith judgment” requirement and put a halt to the punishments for performing an abortion. However, because the stay is appealing the ruling, there is a stay, meaning the injunction can not go into effect. The abortion rights group is not happy with the slow pace of the appeals court, so when Kate called, they likely saw an opportunity to use Kate’s position to force the state into action.
The problem is Dr Karsan did not give the Court any objective evidence that an abortion was the proper route for Kate Cox. According to the Texas Supreme Court ruling (emphasis added):
In this case, the pleadings state that Ms. Cox’s doctor—Dr. Damla Karsan—believes Ms. Cox qualifies for an abortion based on the medical-necessity exception. But when she sued seeking a court’s pre-authorization, Dr. Karsan did not assert that Ms. Cox has a “life-threatening physical condition” or that, in Dr. Karsan’s reasonable medical judgment, an abortion is necessary because Ms. Cox has the type of condition the exception requires.
Judging from the Court’s 7-page ruling on Kate’s lawsuit, it seems that the Court saw right through the charade the abortion rights organization was trying to pull.
Kate is done waiting, though. Reports are that she left Texas to seek an abortion in another state before the Texas Supreme Court ruling was handed down.
Lorraine Yuriar is a wife, mother, and lifelong conservative, currently stuck in a very blue state.
This is what the devil does. He gets you alone and take advantage of you. I feel for her but this is happening everyday unfortunately.
I feel for this mother because her baby's deformities are fatal; if born baby may not live very long at all. A good friend of mine's daughter became pregnant with her first child and she and her husband were excited, as was my friend as this was grandbaby #1. Well, the baby girl died in utero after 4-5 months due to a hole in her heart. However, the baby wasn't expelling from her womb, and her doctor (we live in TX) would not perform a D & C for fear of our abortion laws. It took two weeks and signs of sepsis before procedure was done. Mind you, baby was already dead. Me personally, as a believer in Jesus I agree with Texas' abortion laws, but in my friend's daughter's situation, and Mrs. Cox's situation, this needs to be addressed in the next legislative session.