Tierra Walker died after she couldn’t get an abortion. Her family is suing Ken Paxton.

The family of Tierra Walker, who died in December 2024 at 20 weeks pregnant after repeatedly requesting an abortion, is suing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Texas Medical Board's executive director, a Bexar County DA, a university medical system, and three doctors. It is the first lawsuit directly tied to a death under Texas's abortion ban and the first to name Paxton personally.

Walker had chronic conditions including diabetes and hypertension, was hospitalized repeatedly, and was told her 'baby is fine' rather than given information about obtaining an abortion, according to the suit. She died of hypertensive cardiovascular disease with preeclampsia, a condition doctors had already identified, days after her last hospital discharge; her son found her body.

The suit argues Texas's ban violates both the state and federal constitutions and seeks damages plus a court finding on the law's constitutionality. Paxton, currently running for U.S. Senate, has previously defended the ban aggressively, including threatening legal action in a separate case where a court had already ruled a woman qualified for an exception.

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