The family of a Texas woman who died of pregnancy-related complications is suing state officials and the hospital where she was treated, claiming the state’s ban on most abortions killed her.
Walker’s family filed a lawsuit in San Antonio on Tuesday, claiming that a doctor repeatedly denied her an abortion despite her having a medical emergency that would have legally permitted terminating the pregnancy.
The lawsuit names Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican who is running for election to the U.S. Senate; the Texas Medical Board, which regulates the state’s medical professionals; the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio; and several doctors who treated Walker before she died.
“For months, Ms. Walker had been asking for termination of her pregnancy — even though this was a wanted pregnancy — because she did not think she would survive the pregnancy. Tragically, she was right,” the lawsuit states. “An abortion at any point during her pregnancy would have saved her life.”
A representative for Paxton did not immediately return NBC News’ request for comment. The Texas Medical Board and the hospital system declined to comment.
The hospital where Walker was treated, University Health, said in a statement Thursday that it could not comment on Walker’s case specifically, but that its “priority is to provide medically appropriate and timely care.”
“In general, our clinicians make patient care decisions based on each patient’s clinical condition, applicable medical standards and legal requirements,” Elizabeth Allen, a spokesperson for the hospital, said in an email. “We take concerns about patient care seriously and review them through appropriate internal clinical and quality processes.”
In September 2024, Walker checked herself into the emergency room at University Health with symptoms of pre-eclampsia, a potentially deadly pregnancy complication, according to the lawsuit. Pre-eclampsia is characterized by high blood pressure and organ failure. It is a leading cause of death among mothers and babies in the United States.
The treatment for a severe case of the complication is immediate delivery of the child. However, at 20 weeks pregnant, delivery of Walker’s baby before full term would have been legally considered abortion in Texas.
Texas effectively banned all abortions in the state in 2024. Under the law, women cannot have abortions as soon as fetal cardiac activity is detected, which can be as early as five weeks.
There are no exceptions for cases of rape, incest or fetal anomaly. However, under the law, a physician may perform an abortion when the mother has a life-threatening condition caused by the pregnancy.
The lawsuit alleges that when Walker showed those conditions and asked for an abortion, the doctors sent her home. The family is represented by lawyers affiliated with Abortion in America, an advocacy group, and the Marynell Maloney Law Firm.
Her family accused doctors of telling Walker “your baby is fine,” and blamed officials for imposing “a merciless blanket prohibition on abortion that intimidates doctors into inaction and breeds extreme fear among Texas’ medical establishment.”
Walker died in December of that year. She left behind a husband and teenage son.
“Tierra, she would have changed the world. And she’s changing it now,” Latanya Walker, one of Tierra Walker’s aunts, said at a news conference Wednesday.
