When the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade last year, it did not remove the issue from the courts.
Instead, it has opened up a new suite of legal issues, with states passing their own restrictions challenged by opponents across the country.
This week, 31-year-old Texas woman Kate Cox made headlines for her quest to have an abortion in her home state after she found out her baby had a condition which meant it would likely die in utero or shortly after birth.
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Ms Cox’s story is just one of six abortion cases playing out in supreme courts in five separate states this week.
Here’s what we know about them.
Texas woman ends quest for abortion in home state
In Texas, abortion is illegal in most cases.
In 2022, in response to the overturning of Roe v Wade, a law came into effect that bans abortion in all cases except to save the life of a mother.
Kate Cox, a 31-year-old mother-of-two children — aged three and one — and her husband want additional children and were glad to learn she was pregnant.
However, tests confirmed late last month that the baby she was carrying had a condition called trisomy 18, meaning it had an extra chromosome that made it likely the baby would die in utero or shortly after birth.
Doctors convicted of providing illegal abortions can face steep consequences including up to 99 years in prison, $US100,000 ($150,000) in fines and losss of their medical licences.
By the time Ms Cox filed her lawsuit last week, she was 20 weeks pregnant.
She said in court filings that delivering the baby at full term by caesarean surgery would carry a risk of uterine rupture, which would endanger any future pregnancies.
On Friday, an Austin-based judge elected as a Democrat granted Ms Cox permission to receive an abortion, but the state attorney-general warned anyone who provided one could still face legal consequences.
Later that day, the Texas Supreme Court put the lower court’s order on hold.
On Monday evening, the higher court ruled against Ms Cox, finding her pregnancy complications did not constitute the kind of medical emergency under which abortions are allowed.
In an order that was not signed but to which two of the justices said they concurred, the court ruled: “Some difficulties in pregnancy, even serious ones, do not pose the heightened risks to the mother that the exception encompassed.”
Even before that ruling was issued, Ms Cox’s lawyers said she had travelled out of state for an abortion.
Arizona abortion ban under review
When Roe v Wade fell, the law in Arizona was set to default back to the state’s total ban.
When Roe V Wade fell, the law was set to default back to the state’s total ban.
But just before it was undone, lawmakers passed a separate ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy unless the mother’s life is in danger.
It does not however, allow a mother to get an abortion after 15 weeks in a situation where there is rape or incest.
There’s been confusion and litigation over which law applies.
An effort to harmonise both laws was made last year where the state’s Supreme Court ruled doctors could not be prosecuted for providing abortions during the 15-week time frame.
The court has heard arguments this week about whether a ban enacted in 1864 — which would prohibit abortions at any stage of pregnancy — should apply.
But regardless of this outcome, Arizona abortion rights supporters are already pushing to get a ballot question before voters next year that would undo both bans.
Battle between local and state in New Mexico
The New Mexico Supreme Court is weighing whether to strike down local abortion restrictions by conservative cities and counties at the request of the attorney general.
The high court heard oral arguments for roughly an hour on Wednesday without a ruling, as lawyers and activists packed the small courtroom.
The judges offered no insight on when a ruling might be issued.
New Mexico is among seven states that allow abortions up until birth, and it has become a destination for people from other states with bans — especially Texas — who are seeking procedures.
But conservative counties and towns near the border of Texas have responded by passing local laws to restrict local abortion providers.
They say the local abortion ordinances can’t be struck down at least until federal courts rule on the meaning of provision within the “anti-vice” law known as the Comstock Act.
The Comstock Act prohibits the mailing of anything that can be used for an abortion procedure.
Since the court case began, additional local ordinances have been adopted to restrict abortion near Albuquerque and along the state line with Texas.
Wyoming argues whether abortion is health care
Two hearings underway in Wyoming this week could shape abortion law in the state.
Abortion is currently legal in Wyoming but only until “viability”, which is defined as the point where a fetus could survive outside the uterus without medical help.
This depends on the pregnancy and how the fetus is developing.
In July, Teton County District Court Judge Melissa Owens paused enforcement of a ban on abortion at all stages of pregnancy in Wyoming.
The pause has been enacted while she considers whether to hold a trial on a challenge to the ban.
She is expected to make a decision on the trial this week.
Wyoming was also the first state to pass legislation banning a person’s access to abortion pills but Judge Owens also blocked that ban temporarily before it was due to take effect.
In a separate issue in the state’s Supreme Court, five members heard arguments on whether to let two lawmakers and Right to Life Wyoming intervene in a case to provide testimony that rebuts the argument that elective abortion should be considered health care.
If these extra parties’ arguments are included in the case, it may need to start again.
The plaintiff in the case is making the argument that the current abortion law in Wyoming is vague and that abortion law should be considered health care.
Even if abortion does remain legal in Wyoming, access is incredibly limited, with one of the two clinics in the state recently shutting down.
Law changes in Michigan
On Monday, Democratic Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed the last piece of a legislative package known as the Reproductive Health Act.
The package aims to reinforce and safeguard abortion rights in Michigan after voters last year approved a ballot initiative enshrining the right in the state’s constitution.
The bill repeals a law that had banned insurance coverage for abortion without purchase of a separate rider.
The law, coined “rape insurance” by opponents, was passed 10 years ago by a state legislature that was controlled by Republicans.
ABC/AP