Texas Supreme Court rejects challenge from women denied abortion during emergencies [Video]

The highest court in Texas has rejected a historic challenge to the state’s anti-abortion laws from a group of 22 women – some of whom nearly died during pregnancy – demanding urgent clarity on whether emergency medical exceptions to abortion bans include life-threatening pregnancies.

On Friday, a unanimous Texas Supreme Court decided that the state law was broad enough.

Plaintiffs in Zurawski v Texas had urged the state to allow doctors to use their best medical judgment without fear of prosecution under the state’s severe anti-abortion laws, after providers denied them emergency abortion care during complicated pregnancies that put their health and lives at risk.

The women argued that providers would be too afraid to act, potentially facing decades in jail, tens of thousands of dollars in fines, and the loss of …