A Partial List of 2023 Lawsuits on Abortion and Reproductive Rights
February 1, 2024 3 minutes read
Reproductive rights attorneys were busy in 2023 and are continuing the legal fight in 2024.
The following are some of the lawsuits filed in 2023 over abortion care and reproductive rights:
• Cox v. Texas. Filed Dec. 5, 2023. Kate Cox and the Center for Reproductive Rights requested the court to grant her an emergency abortion in Texas. Her fetus was diagnosed with trisomy 18 and had no chance of survival. Because Cox underwent two previous cesarean deliveries, carrying the pregnancy to term would put her at risk for multiple serious medical conditions and make it less likely she could safely have more children.
On Dec. 7, 2023, a Texas judge granted Cox’s request to temporarily block the enforcement of the state’s abortion ban so she could access emergency abortion care.
On Dec. 8, 2023, the Texas Supreme Court temporarily halted the judge’s ruling. Then, on Dec. 12, 2023, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that Cox could not obtain an abortion in the state. (https://reproductiverights.org...)
• Zurawski v. State of Texas. Filed March 6, 2023. The Center for Reproductive Rights and 22 plaintiffs sued the state of Texas, alleging women were denied abortion care despite facing severe and dangerous pregnancy complications that threatened their health and lives. (https://reproductiverights.org...)
Amanda Zurawski and more than 20 other people sued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and others in the state for depriving pregnant people of medical emergency care during pregnancy crises. Zurawski was diagnosed with incompetent cervix at 17 weeks and was told her baby would not survive. When Zurawski’s water broke on Aug. 23, 2022, she went to the emergency department (ED), where she was diagnosed with preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM). Zurawski was not offered an abortion to prevent sepsis, and she was sent home. The next day, Zurawski visited the ED with signs of infection and sepsis, and waited for the medical team to determine if she was sick enough to induce labor. Because of the long wait for medical care, Zurawski developed septic shock and landed in the intensive care unit, where she spent three days. The infection caused scar tissue to develop in her uterus and on her fallopian tubes, making it less likely she could become pregnant again. (https://reproductiverights.org...)
On Aug. 4, 2023, a Texas district judge issued an injunction blocking the state’s abortion bans as they apply to dangerous pregnancy complications. It also ruled the state’s “bounty hunter” abortion ban to be unconstitutional. On Nov. 28, 2023, the Texas Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the state’s appeal of the district court’s ruling. (https://reproductiverights.org...)
• Hodes & Nauser v. Kobach. Filed June 6, 2023. The lawsuit, filed by Teresa Woody of The Woody Law Firm in Kansas City, MO, sought declaratory injunction relief in a challenge to the Kansas Woman’s Right to Know Act. The act, known as the Biased Counseling Scheme, would require pregnant patients to hear medically inaccurate information and infringe on the state’s constitutional bill of rights and the fundamental right to personal autonomy, according to the lawsuit. (https://reproductiverights.org...)
On Oct. 30, 2023, a Kansas state court judge blocked the requirement that patients receive state-mandated information before obtaining an abortion. (https://reproductiverights.org...)
• Adkins v. State of Idaho. Filed Sept. 12, 2023. The lawsuit filed in Idaho, along with similar ones in Tennessee and Oklahoma, alleges that women were denied or delayed in receiving necessary abortion care despite facing severe and dangerous pregnancy complications, including a molar pregnancy, an unviable pregnancy, and a fetus with an inoperable congenital heart condition. Some of the patients were told they risked severe hemorrhaging and other health risks if they continued their pregnancies. (https://reproductiverights.org...; https://reproductiverights.org...)
• Whole Woman’s Health Alliance v. FDA. Filed May 8, 2023. The Center for Reproductive Rights filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Virginia on behalf of independent abortion providers, asking the court to preserve long-term access to the abortion medication mifepristone in Virginia, Montana, and Kansas. On Aug. 21, 2023, the federal court denied the request for a preliminary injunction. Their decision followed the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling to reinstate significant restrictions on the use of mifepristone. (https://reproductiverights.org...)
Reproductive rights attorneys were busy in 2023 and are continuing the legal fight in 2024.
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