SAN ANTONIO — The family of Tierra Walker, a 37-year-old Black mother who died during a high-risk pregnancy, has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit alleging that Texas’ abortion restrictions and failures by her medical providers prevented her from receiving care that could have saved her life.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday, Sept. 15, in Bexar County state court. It names Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Texas Medical Board, the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and several physicians and officials as defendants.
Walker was 20 weeks pregnant when she died in December 2024, two days after her final hospital visit, according to the complaint and reporting by Reuters. Her family says she suffered worsening seizures, blood clots, dangerous blood-pressure spikes and preeclampsia during the pregnancy.
Preeclampsia is a serious pregnancy complication involving high blood pressure that can threaten the lives of both the patient and fetus. In severe cases, delivery may be required to prevent further harm.
The family alleges Walker repeatedly requested that the pregnancy be terminated because of the danger to her health, but doctors did not perform the procedure. The complaint argues that she qualified for the medical-emergency exception in Texas law and that fear of criminal or civil penalties contributed to delays and inaction.
Those allegations have not been decided in court. The defendants will have an opportunity to respond, and filing a lawsuit does not establish liability.
Texas prohibits most abortions but permits one when a physician, using reasonable medical judgment, determines that a pregnant patient faces a life-threatening physical condition or a serious risk to a major bodily function. The lawsuit contends that the exception has not protected patients adequately because providers remain uncertain about when they can legally intervene.
The Texas Medical Board told the Houston Chronicle that physicians do not have to wait until a patient’s life is in immediate danger before providing necessary treatment for a condition that is or may become an emergency. The board said such treatment may include ending a pregnancy in some circumstances. It otherwise declined to discuss the pending case.
The University of Texas Health Science Center declined to comment. Paxton’s office had not responded publicly to requests for comment reported by Reuters and the Chronicle.
The complaint also alleges that Walker experienced racial discrimination while seeking care. That allegation places the case within a broader maternal-health crisis: Texas health data have repeatedly shown that Black women experience the state’s highest rates of pregnancy-related death.
Walker’s family describes her as a dental assistant, former teacher and central source of support for her relatives. Her death left behind her husband and teenage son.
The case asks the court to hold medical and state officials responsible and challenges the abortion restrictions under state and federal law. Its outcome could shape how Texas hospitals interpret emergency pregnancy exceptions and how quickly physicians act when a patient’s condition is deteriorating.
Sources: Reuters, Sept. 16, 2026; Houston Chronicle, Sept. 16, 2026.
