Family files wrongful-death suit against Texas attorney general over denied abortion
The family of Tierra Walker, who died from pre-eclampsia while pregnant, has sued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, doctors and state officials, alleging that a denied abortion contributed to her death.
A Texas family has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in Bexar County district court accusing Attorney General Ken Paxton, the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, several physicians and the Texas Medical Board of contributing to the death of 37-year-old Tierra Walker. Walker died in December 2024 at 20 weeks gestation after being diagnosed with pre-eclampsia, a condition that can cause seizures and blood clots.
The complaint alleges that Walker and her relatives requested an abortion as her health deteriorated, but doctors refused to perform the procedure. Plaintiffs claim the defendants acted with "deliberate indifference, discrimination, and medical mistreatment" that led to her death and contend that Texas’s abortion ban is unconstitutional.
Named in the suit are Paxton, the board’s executive director Stephen Brint Carlton, the university health system and individual physicians. Paxton, a Republican Senate candidate, has defended the state’s abortion restrictions and previously pursued legal actions against providers of abortion medication and alleged illegal abortion practitioners.
"They deprived her of her right to life by enforcing a merciless blanket prohibition on abortion," the filing states.
The case adds to ongoing legal challenges to Texas’s abortion laws and raises questions about medical decision-making in severe pregnancy complications.