In a decision ordering that men and women in Texas must have equal access to medical care, the Court of Appeals for the Third District of Texas ruled today that the Texas ban on Medicaid coverage for low-income women's abortions is unconstitutional. Citing the Texas Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) as a basis for its decision, the Court said that when the state chooses to provide medically necessary services to indigent persons, it must not discriminate on the basis of gender, including pregnancy.

Approximately 1.4 million women of childbearing age in Texas would now be eligible for Medicaid funding if they choose to terminate a pregnancy.

"This victory protects the health of all women in Texas by guaranteeing their right to receive the care recommended by their doctor," said Bonnie Scott Jones, staff attorney with the Center for Reproductive Rights and lead counsel in the case. "Today, the Court ordered that men and women in Texas must have equal access to medical care."

In a 2-1 decision, the Court wrote,"Medically necessary treatment is available to all Medicaid-eligible patients, with one exception: the Hyde Amendment denies funding for medically necessary abortions. This gender-based restriction operates to the disadvantage of women who are otherwise eligible for Medicaid services…Because all of the disadvantaged persons are women, we hold that the funding restriction violates the Texas ERA and is not justified by any physical characteristic related to the purpose of the program."

With this decision, sixteen out of twenty-one state courts that have considered near-bans on abortion funding like Texas' have determined that states must provide coverage for all medically necessary abortions.

Plaintiffs in Low-Income Women of Texas v. Raiford include three physicians who provide reproductive health services, including abortion, the Fairmount Center (Dallas), Reproductive Services (Austin), and Routh Street Women's Clinic (Dallas). They are represented by Bonnie Scott Jones of the Center for Reproductive Rights, and local cooperating attorney Catherine A. Mauzy.

With this decision, the Center for Reproductive Rights remembers Rosie Jiminez, the Texas woman who was the first U.S. woman to die from an illegal abortion as a result of the ban on Medicaid funding.