Texas Family Sues Paxton, Doctors Over Death of Pregnant Woman Denied Abortion
The family of Tierra Walker, a 37-year-old San Antonio woman who died in December 2024 while 20 weeks pregnant, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Texas Medical Board, and several doctors. The suit alleges that Texas’s strict abortion ban prevented Walker from receiving life-saving care for severe preeclampsia, a condition that caused her death. Walker’s family claims that despite her deteriorating health, including seizures and blood clots, medical staff refused to terminate the pregnancy or advise her to seek care elsewhere, instead telling her 'nothing is wrong with the baby.' The lawsuit, filed in Bexar County, names eight defendants, including the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and individual physicians, accusing them of deliberate indifference and discrimination. While the state’s law permits abortion in life-threatening emergencies, the family argues that the legal climate intimidated doctors into inaction. Defendants have largely declined to comment on the specific case, citing privacy and legal processes, though the Bexar County district attorney offered condolences.
