Second Court of Appeals

Week of April 20, 2026 

Summaries of Civil Opinions and Published Criminal Opinions Issued - Week of April 20, 2026.

NOTE: Summaries are prepared by the court's staff attorneys and law clerks for public information only and reflect his or her interpretation alone of the facts and legal issues. The summaries are not part of the court's opinion in the case and should not be cited to, quoted, or relied upon as the opinion of the court.

Links to full text of opinions (PDF version) can be accessed by clicking the cause number.

 

Puffer v. Williams, No. 02-25-00244-CV (Apr. 23, 2026) (Sudderth, C.J., joined by Kerr and Womack, JJ.).

Held:  The rule announced in Noe v. Velasco, 690 S.W.3d 1 (Tex. 2024)—specifically, the Texas Supreme Court’s holding that a mother cannot recover noneconomic damages for the hardships inherent in her negligently caused pregnancy—applies even if the mother has an abortion rather than carrying the pregnancy to term.  The pregnancy remains “inseparable from[] bringing about [a] child’s life,” and “Texas law does not regard a healthy child as an injury.”  Id. at 10–12.  Therefore, Appellee could not recover compensatory damages for the nonecomoic hardships inherent in her aborted, negligently caused pregnancy.