Family sues Ken Paxton and doctors, claiming Texas abortion ban led to pregnant woman’s death

Key Points:

• The family of Tierra Walker, a Texas woman who died from pregnancy-related complications, has sued Attorney General Ken Paxton and medical professionals, alleging that an abortion could have saved her life and that the state's near-total abortion ban is unconstitutional.
• Walker, 37 and 20 weeks pregnant, died in December 2024 from severe preeclampsia, a condition that typically requires immediate delivery or abortion, but her doctors allegedly refused to perform the procedure despite qualifying for a legal exception.
• The lawsuit accuses Texas officials of enforcing a strict abortion ban that intimidates doctors and endangers patients, naming the Texas Medical Board, the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, and several doctors as defendants.
• In a related case, two Oklahoma women have sued after being forced to travel out of state for abortions due to nonviable pregnancies, arguing that such restrictions violate constitutional rights.
• Texas’ abortion restrictions, enacted after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, include a ban on abortions once fetal cardiac activity is detected and allow private citizens to sue providers, with the Walker family’s lawsuit claiming these laws violate both federal and state constitutional rights.