Kate Cox, who sued the state of Texas after she was denied an emergency abortion, is pregnant again.
Cox made the announcement at a a campaign event in Maryland on Monday with Vice President Kamala Harris where they called for restoring abortion access in Texas.
In December 2023, Cox sued the state of Texas after she was told that she could not have an abortion despite her fetus having a fatal diagnosis.
Texas is one of 14 states that ban abortion at nearly all stages of pregnancy. Although Texas allows exceptions, doctors and women have argued in court that the state’s law is so restrictive and vaguely worded that physicians are fearful of providing abortions lest they face potential criminal charges.
Cox, a mother of two, had caesarians with her previous pregnancies. She learned she was pregnant for a third time in August and was told weeks later that her baby was at a high risk for a condition known as trisomy 18, which has a very high likelihood of miscarriage or stillbirth and low survival rates, according to the lawsuit.
Doctors told Cox that if the baby’s heartbeat were to stop, inducing labor would carry a risk of a uterine rupture because of her prior caesarians, and that another caesarian at full term would endanger her ability to carry another child.
Cox told the court that she should be allowed to have an abortion because her doctor had deemed it necessary to protect her health and her chance of future fertility.
“Kate Cox needs an abortion, and she needs it now,” the lawsuit read.
The Texas Supreme Court ultimately ruled against Cox, forcing her to leave the state to get an abortion.
“Wanted, prayed-for pregnancy sometimes ends in abortion,” Cox said at the campaign event on Monday.
She added: “It was every minute that I stayed pregnant, the risks to my health and to a future pregnancy were growing.”
She went on to describe her doctor’s assessment as “the most painful thing” she’s ever been told.
“Today, I am happy to share that I’m pregnant again,” she said to cheers and applause.
Cox told the crowds that she is due in January, adding that she hopes, by then, “it will be a world led by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.”
The mother of two also thanked Biden and Harris for “fighting tirelessly” for reproductive rights, and urged voters to “restore our reproductive rights” in November.
Her announcement came on the two year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overruling Roe v. Wade - eliminating the constitutional right to an abortion nationwide.
Since the constitutional right to abortion was banned in the US, total bans on the procedure have been implemented in Indiana and North Dakota. Meanwhile, abortions are banned after six weeks of pregnancy in South Carolina and 12 weeks in North Carolina and Nebraska.
Altogether, 14 states have enacted near-total abortion bans.
