Family of 37-year-old Tierra Walker sues Ken Paxton and doctors, alleging she was denied a life-saving abortion before dying of preeclampsia

The family of Tierra Walker, a 37-year-old mother who died of preeclampsia while 20 weeks pregnant, has filed a lawsuit in Bexar County District Court that accuses Texas officials and medical providers of causing her death through a failure to provide life-saving care. Per CBS News, the lawsuit claims that Walker was denied an abortion that could have saved her life as her health quickly deteriorated. The family’s attorneys say her complications included seizures, blood clots and dangerously high blood pressure. 

The suit reportedly names Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the executive director of the Texas Medical Board, the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, and several of her doctors as defendants. The lawsuit alleges that the defendants exhibited “deliberate indifference, discrimination, and medical mistreatment [that] ultimately caused her horrific and tragic death” in 2024. 

University Health told CBS News it could not comment on individual patients or litigation. Paxton’s office did not respond to CBS News’ request for comment, and a spokesperson for Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales, who is also named as a defendant, said Gonzales has not prosecuted any abortion cases.

According to the filing, Walker and her family repeatedly asked medical staff to terminate the pregnancy because they believed it was costing her her life. Despite these pleas, hospital staff allegedly insisted that “nothing is wrong with the baby” while disregarding the patient’s deteriorating condition. Attorney Michelle Maloney told CBS News that “Tierra Walker is dead because not one of her … healthcare providers would give her the one medical procedure that would have saved her life.”

CBS News reported that in the 6,500 pages of medical records it reviewed, doctors did not document any instance of Walker asking for an abortion, though the family’s attorneys say providers in Texas avoid writing the word in charts for fear of repercussions. The records also described her seizures as non-epileptic and unrelated to her pregnancy or preeclampsia, according to CBS.

What ProPublica reported about her care

ProPublica noted that Walker was an expectant mother who had been working to manage chronic health issues including obesity, asthma, and Type 2 diabetes. While her health had been improving earlier in 2024, the lawsuit says her pregnancy brought a series of dangerous complications. Medical records reviewed by ProPublica indicated that more than 90 doctors were involved in her care, yet none offered her the option of an abortion. 

Her aunt, LaTanya Walker, told CBS News that the medical staff appeared to dismiss her niece’s concerns, stating, “They really treated her so bad because they thought she was crazy. One day they told me to tell her husband, ‘Can you go tell him that this is all in her head?'”

Maloney added that physicians refused because of what she called “the immense culture of fear” around abortion in Texas since the near-total ban took effect in 2022. According to The Hill, the lawsuit alleges that “At every turn, Texas’s political and medical establishments not only failed but actively harmed Ms. Walker.” 

While Texas law contains an exception for the life of the mother, the lawsuit argues that the reality for patients is quite different. Molly Duane, litigation director at Amplify Legal, which is representing the family, said in a press release, “Tierra Walker is proof that there is no exception. If she did not qualify, if even her doctors were too scared to act, then the medical emergency exception is nothing more than words on a page.”

The legal team for the family believes that Paxton and other state officials are responsible for the environment that led to this outcome. “Texans are dying because of abortion bans and Ken Paxton and the state of Texas are just letting it happen,” Duane added in the press release. The lawsuit further asserts that the state’s abortion ban is unconstitutional. Recently, a surrogate capitalized on the state’s rule to go against the parents’ wishes about a pregnancy.

The Texas Medical Board told CBS News that physicians are not required to wait until a patient’s life is in immediate danger before providing necessary care. However, the family’s attorneys maintain that the threat of criminal penalties has created a culture of fear among doctors. Under the law, anyone found guilty of providing an abortion faced up to 99 years in prison, fines and the loss of their medical license, CBS News reported.

Texas lawmakers passed the Life of the Mother Act in 2025 to clarify the medical exceptions. Dr. Christina Francis, CEO of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, told CBS News that Walker’s death was likely preventable and due to inadequate medical care, but “certainly not the fault of Texas’ abortion law.”

ProPublica reported that Walker’s final return to the emergency room occurred on December 27, 2024. Although she was diagnosed with preeclampsia, she was discharged that same night. Days later, on his 15th birthday, Walker’s son found her unresponsive in her bed. An autopsy confirmed that she died of hypertensive cardiovascular disease and preeclampsia. 

In a statement released by the family’s attorneys, her aunt, LaTanya Walker, said: “Doctors all turned a blind eye as Tierra was dying, and refused to give her the abortion she needed to save her life. She deserves justice.”

Paxton, a Republican, is running for U.S. Senate in Texas. The family’s attorneys denied that the timing of the lawsuit is political and said the two-year statute of limitations was set to expire within days, CBS News reported.