A pregnant Texas woman asked a court for permission to get an abortion, despite a ban. What's next?

Austin, Texas — Kate Cox, a mother of two in Texas, became pregnant again in August, but soon after heard devastating news: Her baby has a fatal condition and will likely be stillborn or die shortly after birth.

The tragic circumstances have put Cox, 31, at the center of an unprecedented challenge over abortion bans that have changed the landscape for women in the US. A Texas judge this week gave Cox permission to have an abortion, but the state's highest court put that decision on hold Friday evening.

Whether Cox, who is 20 weeks pregnant, can legally have an abortion under limited exceptions to the state's ban is now in limbo as the Texas Supreme Court hears her case. The court, which consists of nine Republican judges, has not given a timetable for when it might rule.

Her lawsuit would be the first since Roe v. Wade was overturned last year and a court asked for permission to have an abortion. A pregnant woman from Kentucky has since filed a similar challenge.

“With our client's life at stake, the state of Texas is playing despicable political games. This fight is not over yet,” the Center for Reproductive Rights, which represents Cox, reported on X on Saturday.

Here's what you need to know:

Cox lives in the Dallas area with her husband and two children, ages 3 and 1. Neither pregnancies were easy and she underwent a C-section for both deliveries, according to her lawsuit filed this week in Austin.

In October, doctors told Cox that her fetus was at high risk for a condition known as trisomy 18, in which the chance of miscarriage or stillbirth is very high and the chances of survival are low, the lawsuit said. Her lawyers say Cox has been to the emergency room at least four times, including this week, and that her health is increasingly at risk the longer her pregnancy continues.

Doctors have told Cox that inducing labor or carrying the baby to term could jeopardize her ability to have another child in the future.

“I would really like to have another baby,” Cox told NBC News this week after a lower court judge granted her permission to have an abortion. “So I have high hopes for my health and our family.”

Republican Texas Attorney General Kan Paxton, who is leading efforts to prevent abortion, says Cox does not meet the requirements for a medical exemption under the state ban. His office maintains that Cox has not shown that the pregnancy endangered her life, noting that she was sent home after her visits to hospital emergency rooms.

The Texas ban makes no exceptions for fetal abnormalities. There are no recent statistics on the frequency of abortions for fetal abnormalities in the US, but experts say this represents only a small percentage of total procedures.

“It was not the intent of the Texas Legislature for courts to become revolving doors of consent forms to obtain abortions,” Paxton's office wrote in a filing with the state Supreme Court.

Texas is one of 13 states that rushed to ban abortion at nearly all stages of pregnancy after Roe was reversed. Texas has long been at the forefront of strict abortion laws in the US, and even now there are ongoing efforts to make it more difficult for pregnant women to leave Texas for states where the procedure is legal.

Under the Texas ban, doctors who perform abortions could face criminal charges, with sentences of up to life in prison. They may also face lawsuits from private citizens, who have the power to sue anyone who helps a woman obtain an abortion, such as the doctor's staff. The laws do not threaten the mother with legal consequences.

Fewer than 50 women in Texas have had an abortion since the ban went into effect last year, according to state health data. None are known to have resulted in criminal charges or lawsuits.

Who qualifies for a medical exemption under Texas' ban has become one of the biggest legal questions since Roe was overturned. A separate case before the Texas Supreme Court argues that lawmakers made the requirements too vague, causing doctors to be afraid to perform abortions under almost all circumstances.

A ruling in that case will likely be months away.

Hours before the Texas Supreme Court put Cox's case on hold Friday, a woman in Kentucky who is eight weeks pregnant also demanded the right to an abortion in state court.

Unlike Cox's case, the Kentucky lawsuit seeks class-action status to include other women who are or will become pregnant and want to have an abortion. Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron, whose office has defended the state's anti-abortion laws, has said his office is reviewing the lawsuit.