¶ Overview
Ken Paxton is a radical pro-life defender who knows no limits. Paxton celebrated the overturning of Roe v. Wade and increased his work to undermine maternal health care. Paxton petitioned the Texas Supreme Court to halt an abortion for a mother whose life and fetus were at risk and threatened her care providers with legal consequences. Under Ken Paxton, maternal death rates in Texas increased. Still, Paxton defends and supports Texas' abortion bans and prosecutions.
¶ Ken Paxton On Maternal Health Care
¶ Roe v Wade
¶ Ken Paxton Celebrated The End Of Roe V. Wade
Ken Paxton Celebrated The End Of Roe V. Wade, Claiming That A “Partisan” Past Supreme Court Resulted In 70 Million Baby Deaths. According to a press release from AG Ken Paxton, “‘Roe v. Wade and its successor case Planned Parenthood v. Casey have absolutely no basis in the U.S. Constitution,’ said Attorney General Paxton. ‘Nevertheless, for half a century, Americans have had to live under these illegitimate, illegal, and unconstitutional dictates of a partisan, willful Supreme Court. No more. Today, the question of abortion returns to the states. And in Texas, that question has already been answered: abortion is illegal here. I look forward to defending the pro-life laws of Texas and the lives of all unborn children moving forward.’ ‘Further,’ added Attorney General Paxton, ‘we cannot forget the extraordinary violence that Roe and Casey unleashed on our nation. Because of those decisions, almost 70 million babies have been killed in the womb. And so, today at noon, I am closing all my offices as a memorial to these babies. Our hearts and prayers go out to all of them. Never again should something like this happen in America.’” [Press Release - AG Ken Paxton, 6/24/22]
¶ Texas Abortion Ban
¶ Paxton Defended Texas’ Abortion Bans
Paxton Defended Texas’ Abortion Bans. Ken Paxton posted, “Pro-life victory! Thanks to my appeal, SCOTX has slapped down the abortion providers and the district court carrying their water. Our state’s pre-Roe statutes banning abortion in Texas are 100% good law. Litigation continues, but I’ll keep winning for Texas’s unborn babies.]” [Twitter, @KenPaxtonTX, 7/2/22]
¶ SBA Pro-Life America Praised Paxton’s Anti-Abortion Crusade
SBA Thanked Paxton “For His Strong Leadership To Put A Stop To This Brutality, Including Taking On Sellers Of Dangerous Abortion Drugs Across State Lines” And Claimed That Texas Was “Serious About Safeguarding Mothers And Their Babies.” According to a press release from Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, “SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser praised Paxton, saying: ‘The pro-life state of Texas is serious about safeguarding mothers and their babies. Texas law, like every other pro-life law in the country, protects pregnant women’s ability to receive life-saving care in a medical emergency. There is no excuse for illegal abortions that take the life of the baby and put women’s lives at risk, committed by people who don’t even have a medical license. Abortion activists’ reckless, criminal disregard for women’s lives and unborn life is on full display. We thank Attorney General Paxton for his strong leadership to put a stop to this brutality, including taking on sellers of dangerous abortion drugs across state lines, and hope others will follow his example. Women facing difficult or unexpected pregnancies deserve real care and assistance, not the cruel exploitation of the abortion industry.’” [Press Release – SBA Pro-Life America, 3/18/25]
¶ Health And Safety
¶ Paxton Filed A Petition To Halt Kate Cox’s Abortion Despite Her Fetus Having A Lethal Abnormality That Put Her Life At Risk
Paxton Filed A Petition To Halt Kate Cox’s Abortion Despite Her Fetus Having A Lethal Abnormality That Put Her Life At Risk. According to the Texas Tribune, “The Texas Supreme Court on Friday night temporarily halted a lower court’s order that would have permitted a pregnant Dallas woman, whose fetus has lethal abnormality, to get an abortion. The order came in response to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s request a day earlier that the high court step in to intervene. The Supreme Court did not rule on the merits of the case. The court said it would rule on the temporary restraining order, but did not specify when. Paxton’s office submitted its petition just before midnight Thursday, after a Travis County district judge granted a temporary restraining order allowing Kate Cox, 31, to terminate her nonviable pregnancy. Paxton also sent a letter to three hospitals, threatening legal action if they allowed the abortion to be performed at their facility.” [Texas Tribune, 12/8/23]
- Paxton Threatened Legal Action Against Texas Hospitals That Performed Abortions. According to the Texas Tribune, “Paxton’s office submitted its petition just before midnight Thursday, after a Travis County district judge granted a temporary restraining order allowing Kate Cox, 31, to terminate her nonviable pregnancy. Paxton also sent a letter to three hospitals, threatening legal action if they allowed the abortion to be performed at their facility[...] Texas also has a law that allows any citizen to sue someone who helps perform or facilitate an abortion after around six weeks of pregnancy. Paxton has warned that even if the courts allow an abortion in this case, the hospitals and doctors would be liable under that law.” [Texas Tribune, 12/8/23]
Headline: A Third Woman Has Died Under Texas’ Abortion Ban As Doctors Reach For Riskier Miscarriage Treatments [Texas Tribune, 11/27/24]
Headline: Rates Of Pregnancy-Related Sepsis And Deaths Grow In Texas After Abortion Ban [Texas Tribune, 2/20/25]
¶ Medication
¶ Paxton Sued A Delaware-Based Nurse Practitioner For Mailing Mifepristone And Misoprostol Into Texas
Paxton Sued Debra Lynch Over Her “Extremist Group,” Her Safe Harbor, That “Routinely Sends Mifepristone And Misoprostol To Women Across State Lines” And “Advertises Abortion Pills By Mail And Promises Delivery To Texas Within Days.” According to a press release from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, “Paxton has filed a lawsuit against Debra Lynch, a Delaware-based nurse practitioner, who operates an extremist group known as Her Safe Harbor that ships abortion drugs into Texas. In direct violation of Texas law, Her Safe Harbor routinely sends mifepristone and misoprostol to women across state lines. The organization advertises abortion pills by mail and promises delivery to Texas within days. The lawsuit references a quote from Lynch in which she acknowledges that she and her staff ‘mail a lot [of abortion drugs] to Texas,’ including Beaumont, Fulshear, Tomball, Houston, El Paso, and other major cities that she alludes to.” [Press Release – Attorney General Ken Paxton, 1/27/26]
- Paxton Called Lynch A “Radical Out-Of-State Abortion Drug Trafficker” And Declared That “No One, Regardless Of Where They Live, Will Be Freely Allowed To Aid In The Murder Of Unborn Children In Texas.” According to a press release from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, “‘The day of reckoning for this radical out-of-state abortion drug trafficker is here,’ said Attorney General Paxton. ‘No one, regardless of where they live, will be freely allowed to aid in the murder of unborn children in Texas.’” [Press Release – Attorney General Ken Paxton, 1/27/26]
¶ Paxton Sued Aid Access, “An International Abortion-By-Mail Enterprise,” Over Unlawful Shipments Of “Abortion-Inducing Drugs Into Texas In Open Defiance Of State Law”
Paxton Sued Aid Access, “An International Abortion-By-Mail Enterprise,” Over Unlawful Shipments Of “Abortion-Inducing Drugs Into Texas In Open Defiance Of State Law.” According to a press release from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, “Paxton sued Aid Access GmbH, Aid Access B.V. (collectively ‘Aid Access’), Remy Coeytaux, and Rebecca Gomperts, who operate an international abortion-by-mail enterprise that illegally ships abortion-inducing drugs into Texas in open defiance of state law. According to its own website, Aid Access openly advertises that it ‘provide[s] abortion services to all 50 U.S. states including Texas’ and ships abortion-inducing drugs to ‘Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, El Paso, or anywhere else in the State of Texas.’ The organization further claims it has facilitated more than 200,000 abortions nationwide since 2018. Aid Access’s illegal conduct is not hypothetical.” [Press Release – Attorney General Ken Paxton, 2/24/26]
¶ Paxton Issued Cease And Desist Orders To Organizations Advertising And Selling Abortion-Inducing Drugs
Paxton Called The Sale Of Abortion-Inducing Drugs “Murdering Of Innocent Life Through Illegal Drug Trafficking.” According to a press release by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, “Attorney General Ken Paxton has issued cease-and-desist letters to multiple radical organizations demanding an immediate end to the unlawful advertising, sale, and shipment of abortion-inducing drugs into the State of Texas. [...] abortion drug organizations and radical activists are not above the law, and I have ordered the immediate end of this unlawful conduct. This is a flagrant violation of both state and federal laws, and we are going to do everything in our power to protect mothers and unborn babies.’” [Press Release – Attorney General Ken Paxton. 8/20/25]
¶ Shield Laws
¶ Paxton Urged Congress To Pass Legislation Preempting “Shield Laws,” Which Protected Reproductive Health Care Providers From Paxton-Esque Anti-Abortion Prosecutions
Paxton Claimed That Since The Supreme Court “Repealed The Disastrous Roe V. Wade Decision,” A Number Of “Pro-Abortion States Have Responded To Dobbs By Enacting ‘Shield Laws,’” Which He Described As “Nothing More Than An Unlawful Attempt To Stop Abortion Providers From Facing Justice, Even When Their Actions Break Other States’ Laws.” According to a press release from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, “Paxton joined a coalition of Attorneys General from across the country in urging Congress to pass legislation that would preempt ‘shield laws’ enacted by radical pro-abortion states. In a letter to congressional leadership, the coalition calls for federal action to stop efforts by certain states to obstruct the enforcement of pro-life laws. In the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which repealed the disastrous Roe v. Wade decision, Texas continues to lead the nation in protecting the unborn with strong pro-life laws in effect. However, several pro-abortion states have responded to Dobbs by enacting ‘shield laws.’ These statutes are nothing more than an unlawful attempt to stop abortion providers from facing justice, even when their actions break other states’ laws. Such laws also undermine state sovereignty and violate the Constitution’s Full Faith and Credit Clause and Extradition Clause.” [Press Release – Attorney General Ken Paxton, 8/5/25]
- Paxton Called Shield Laws “A Direct Attack On The Rule Of Law And A Grave Threat To Our Constitutional Order” And Claimed That “They Embolden Lawlessness, Weaken Our Ability To Enforce Texas Laws, And Trample On The Rights Of Sovereign States To Protect The Unborn.” According to a press release from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, “‘These shield laws are a direct attack on the rule of law and a grave threat to our constitutional order,’ said Attorney General Paxton. ‘They embolden lawlessness, weaken our ability to enforce Texas laws, and trample on the rights of sovereign states to protect the unborn. Congress has the constitutional authority to rein in these ‘shield laws’ and stop other radical pro-abortion laws, such as statutes that allow unconscionable late-term abortions. I strongly support Congress exercising that authority and putting an end to these radical anti-life policies.’” [Press Release – Attorney General Ken Paxton, 8/5/25]
¶ Out Of State Care
¶ Paxton Claimed Victory In His Suit Against The City Of San Antonio Over Their Abortion Travel Fund
Paxton Touted His “Victory Against The City Of San Antonio” And Directly Credited His Suit For The Abortion Fund’s Termination; He Declared That “San Antonio’s Unlawful Attempt To Cover The Travel And Other Expenses For Out-Of-State Abortions Has Now Officially Been Defeated.” According to a press release from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, “Paxton has secured victory against the City of San Antonio after the city allocated taxpayer dollars to fund travel for women going out-of-state to abort their unborn children. ‘Texas respects the sanctity of unborn life, and I will always do everything in my power to prevent radicals from manipulating the system to murder innocent babies,’ said Attorney General Paxton. ‘It is illegal for cities to fund abortion tourism with taxpayer funds. San Antonio’s unlawful attempt to cover the travel and other expenses for out-of-state abortions has now officially been defeated.’ Following Attorney General Paxton’s aggressive legal action and the passage of Senate Bill 33, which bans taxpayer funds from being used to fund abortion-related activities, the City of San Antonio has capitulated and has officially ended abortion tourism programs.” [Press Release – Attorney General Ken Paxton, 1/9/26]