Mom Who Sued Texas Over Abortion Rights Tells Dana Bash the Laws ‘Added a Lot More Pain’ to the ‘Most Painful Time In Our Lives’

Kate Cox, the Texas mother who was forced to leave her home state to end her pregnancy for medical reasons, was announced as the guest of First Lady Dr. Jill Biden at President Joe Biden’s State of the Union on Thursday. Ahead of her appearance there, Cox spoke to CNN’s Dana Bash about the difficult experience she and her husband had during “the most painful time in our lives.”

Also at the interview was Cox’s husband, Justin Cox, and Bash introduced the interview on Thursday by saying the couple’s emotions were still “raw” from their ordeal. First, Bash asked about when they found out their pregnancy wasn’t normal:

Bash: How many weeks pregnant were you when you first heard “trisomy 18,” and that you’re at risk for your baby having that, which is a rare chromosomal disorder?

Kate Cox: I think I was around 13 weeks when it first came up as a risk. The first thing we saw was a very clear issue with development of the spine. And so we thought, well, maybe, maybe our baby will have a life in a wheelchair, you know? And then the next week, we saw more, and that continued over five weeks. And that’s when we got the full diagnosis. And that final ultrasound was, like, catastrophic. It was — our baby would never survive.

Bash: The moment as a parent, as a mother, when you learn that there’s something wrong with your pregnancy, I know what that’s like. And it’s etched in your memory forever.

Kate Cox: I asked the doctor, best case scenario if she survived the pregnancy because trisomy — the full trisomy 18 babies, often miscarry or are stillborn. And so if we survived the pregnancy and we survived the birth, how long, best case scenario, did she think we could have with her. And she said the longest would be a week. So I asked my doctor, what do women do when they receive a diagnosis like that? Like this. And she told me, some women choose to continue the pregnancy and some choose not to. And I asked her if that was an option in Texas, if I chose not to do the pregnancy, and she told me it’s not.

That was when Cox sued the state of Texas to get a restraining order against their abortion ban, and it was initially granted. The ruling would have kept Cox free from being prosecuted, as well as her husband (for transporting her) and her doctor (for performing the procedure). But then the Supreme Court blocked the decision. Cox said: “It’s really crushing. Pregnancies are complicated and it’s difficult sometimes to build your family, so it’s really terrifying when that’s left up to politicians and judges.” She added:

It’s the hardest thing we’ve ever been through in our lives. And the laws today added a lot more pain to what was already the most painful time in our lives. That’s why I want to share our story, and that’s why I hope it’ll be different one day.

Cox and her husband eventually traveled to New Mexico to get the procedure done, but they were still “on a strict timeline,” according to Justin.

Bash also asked Cox about a post by former Republican Senator Rick Santorum, whose daughter Bella was also diagnosed with trisomy 18, but survived and is now a teenager:

I love to see Bella’s story. She’s absolutely beautiful and I’m so happy for their family. Not every pregnancy and every case of trisomy 18 is the same. Our baby’s circumstances, she would never survive. That wasn’t the case for us. At the end of the day, he made the decision for his family and we made the decision for our family.

Bash also asked about getting the call from the White House:

It was an incredible honor. I’m so grateful, to Doctor Biden and President Biden for shining a light on this important issue. In true mom fashion, actually, I was chasing kids, and so I missed the call. And when I looked, I saw that, caller ID said I had missed a call and already showed “Joseph Biden.” So I didn’t think it was real. I said, “Grandma, we need you gotta watch the kids. I gotta have this phone call!” So, and he said some really kind, kind words. I’m grateful to share our story, and I hope others can learn from what we went through as well.

Watch the video above via CNN.