University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

The family of Tierra Walker, a 37-year-old Texas woman who died in December 2024 from complications of preeclampsia while 20 weeks pregnant, has sued Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Texas Medical Board, the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, and several treating physicians. Filed in state court in San Antonio, the suit alleges doctors repeatedly refused to perform an abortion despite Walker meeting the medical-emergency exception under Texas law, instead telling her she would improve and sending her home. She died two days after her final hospital visit. A hospital spokesperson declined to comment.

The complaint argues Texas' near-total abortion ban, enacted after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, imposes a "merciless blanket prohibition" that intimidates doctors into inaction. It alleges violations of Walker's constitutional right to life, a federal emergency-care law, and the Texas constitution. Paxton's office and the Texas Medical Board have not responded to requests for comment. The case follows a separate lawsuit filed by two Oklahoma women who say they were forced to travel out of state for abortions after their babies were diagnosed as nonviable, adding to mounting legal challenges over how abortion restrictions affect emergency pregnancy care.