Family sues Texas officials over pregnant woman’s death

The family of a 37-year-old Texas woman who died from preeclampsia while 20 weeks pregnant has sued state officials, doctors and a San Antonio health system, alleging she was denied an abortion that could have saved her life.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Bexar County District Court, names Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Stephen Brint Carlton, executive director of the Texas Medical Board, Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales, the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and several doctors who treated Tierra Walker. It accuses them of “deliberate indifference, discrimination, and medical mistreatment” that “ultimately caused her horrific and tragic death” in 2024.

“Tierra Walker is dead and those responsible must be held accountable,” the suit says. “At every turn, Texas’s political and medical establishments not only failed but actively harmed Ms. Walker.”

Walker died Dec. 30, 2024, days after being discharged from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, also known as University Health System, according to the lawsuit. Her son found her dead on his 15th birthday, The 19th reported. A medical examiner ruled that she died of hypertensive cardiovascular disease with preeclampsia, a dangerous pregnancy-related high blood pressure condition.

Her case was first reported by ProPublica.

Walker had a history of chronic health problems, including diabetes, hypertension, obesity and severe asthma. Three years earlier, she developed preeclampsia while pregnant with twins, who were stillborn, according to the lawsuit. By mid-2024, CBS News reported, her blood pressure had improved and she was losing weight with help from a GLP-1 drug.

She learned she was nearly eight weeks pregnant during a Sept. 19, 2024, emergency room visit. Doctors adjusted her blood pressure medication and sent her home, but she returned hours later with seizures, nausea, vomiting and pain. She was hospitalized for much of October, and medical records reviewed by CBS News show doctors described her seizures as non-epileptic “functional seizures,” unrelated to pregnancy or preeclampsia.

Her family says Walker and relatives repeatedly asked doctors to terminate the pregnancy as her health worsened. According to the lawsuit, staff did not counsel her on abortion as a life-saving treatment, offer the procedure or suggest she leave the state. Instead, the suit says, hospital staff told her “your baby is fine.”

“I asked them time and time again to give her an abortion,” her aunt, LaTanya Walker, told CBS News. “And they would tell me … ‘It’s her, but it’s not the baby.’”

LaTanya Walker said her niece wanted the baby but was worried about surviving for her son. “She had to be here for JJ,” she said.

CBS News reported that in 6,500 pages of medical records it reviewed, doctors did not document any request by Walker for an abortion and did not offer one. Molly Duane, an attorney for the family, said Texas medical providers are “scared to even write the word in the medical chart.”

The lawsuit says doctors noted in late October and early November that Walker was at “high” risk of death. On her final hospital visit, medical records cited in the suit said her blood pressure was dangerously high and only temporarily responsive to medication. A doctor wrote that “delivering the baby” — which would end the pregnancy — “may be the best treatment for preeclampsia,” The 19th reported.

Texas’ near-total abortion ban took effect in 2022 after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. It allows exceptions when pregnancy threatens the life of the pregnant patient or poses a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function. Providers who violate the law can face prison time, fines and loss of their medical license.

In 2025, after Walker’s death, Texas passed legislation meant to clarify emergency medical exceptions and strengthen legal protections for doctors who provide abortions as life-saving care.

University Health said it could not comment on litigation or individual patients. “Our priority is to provide medically appropriate and timely care, while safeguarding patient privacy and complying with all applicable laws and regulations,” it said.

The Texas Medical Board told CBS News that under current rules, doctors do not have to wait until a patient’s life is in immediate danger before providing necessary medical care, which in some circumstances “may include the termination of a pregnancy.”

The family is seeking a jury trial, damages and a judgment finding Texas’ abortion laws violate the state constitution. Paxton’s office did not respond to requests for comment from CBS News and The 19th.