Texas man files suit against 3 women he claims aided ex-wife's abortion

A Texas man is suing three women for wrongful death because they allegedly helped his ex-wife terminate her pregnancy by getting abortion pills.

Under Texas law, a person who assists a pregnant woman in obtaining a self-managed abortion has committed murder and can be sued for wrongful death. A pregnant woman who receives an abortion isn't liable under the law.

The law also allows private citizens to file civil suits against abortion providers or anyone who "knowingly engages in conduct that aids or abets the performance or inducement of an abortion".

This is the first such case since the state banned almost all abortions following the US Supreme Court overturning Roe vs Wade in June 2022, which provided a constitutional right to an abortion.

Marcus Silva filed the suit last week in Galveston County ,where he lives. He is demanding $1 million in damages and an injunction stopping the defendants from distributing abortion pills in Texas. His ex-wife isn't named as a defendant.

He alleges that his ex-wife learned of her pregnancy in July 2022, then conspired with two friends to obtain the abortion pills illegally, and terminated the pregnancy in the same month.

The ex-couple have two daughters, and the ex-wife filed for divorce in May, two months before she found out she was pregnant. The divorce was finalized in February this year.

The two friends texted Silva's ex-wife with information about Aid Access, which provides abortion pills through mail order. The text messages are part of the evidence and seem to indicate that they eventually obtained the pills in Houston where they live. A third woman delivered the pills, according to the messages.

Abortion rights groups are calling the lawsuit an intimidation tactic.

"This is an outrageous attempt to scare people from getting abortion care and intimidate those who support their friends, family, and community in their time of need," Autumn Katz, a lawyer with the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement. "The extremists behind this lawsuit are twisting the law and judicial system to threaten and harass people seeking essential care and those who help them."

Silva is represented by attorney Jonathan Mitchel, the architect of Texas' abortion ban bill, which prohibits abortion after six weeks, and Texas state Representative Briscoe Cain.

"Anyone involved in distributing or manufacturing abortion pills will be sued into oblivion," Cain said in a statement from the attorneys. The lawsuit said the manufacturer of the pills also will be named as a defendant once it is identified.

Joanna Grossman, a law professor at the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law, said the lawsuit is "absurd and inflammatory". Because the pregnant patient is protected from prosecution, there is no underlying cause of action to bring a wrongful death suit in a self-managed abortion, she told the Texas Tribune.

But she said such a lawsuit regardless of the outcome will have a chilling effect.

"Who is going to want to help a friend find an abortion if there is some chance that their text messages are going to end up in the news?" Grossman said. "And maybe they're going to get sued, and maybe they're going to get arrested, and it's going to get dropped eventually, but in the meantime, they will have been terrified."

Charles Rhodes, a law professor at South Texas College of Law, agreed.

"It's scary to think that you can be sued for significant damages for helping a friend undertake acts that help her have even a self-medicated abortion," Rhodes told the Tribune.