AUSTIN, Texas — A Texas Supreme Court's ruling to temporarily block a Dallas woman's emergency abortion has left several Texans enraged.
On Sunday, a group united in front of the court in Downtown Austin in support of 31-year-old Kate Cox, who went to court to get an abortion because she said the pregnancy was threatening her life and the fetus was given a deadly diagnosis.
The group chanted, "Stand for Kate Cox! Stand for women's rights!" and made speeches taking aim at Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
"I felt that there was hope, and Ken Paxton, he destroyed it. He absolutely destroys hope in women," said Karyn Bergman, who was part of Sunday's rally.
The attorney general asked the Texas Supreme Court to put a stop to Cox's abortion, hours after a Travis County district judge granted it on Thursday.
The decision left Bergman, who started the Facebook group "Pro-choice Cedar Park," horrified.
"This is a modern age with modern health care, and women should be afforded quality health care, convenient health care, affordable health care without government intervention on their bodies," Bergman said.
The organizer of the event, Victoria Mycue, feels the same.
"We have seen a rapidly advancing deterioration of women's rights under what has become like consolidating fascist power in the United States with the absence of Roe [Roe v. Wade]," Mycue said.
Under Texas law, abortion bans have medical exceptions to protect the health and the life of the pregnant woman. Cox, her doctor and her lawyers with the Center for Reproductive Rights have argued her situation meets the criteria.
On Friday, they stated that they hope the court ultimately rejects the state's request and said as more time passes, Cox's pregnancy only becomes more dangerous.
"It makes me feel like a second-class citizen, and I believe that all women who are living under abortion bans right now are being treated as second-class citizens," Mycue said.