© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The U.S. flag and the Texas state flag fly over the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Texas, U.S., March 14, 2017. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo
By Gabriela Borter
(Reuters) – A Texas man has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit accusing three women of helping his ex-wife obtain abortion pills, in one of the first major legal challenges under a state abortion ban since the United States Supreme Court United States quashed Roe v. Wade. .
Plaintiff Marcus Silva filed the lawsuit Thursday in Galveston County, Texas, alleging that three Texas women are liable for wrongful death because they helped their ex-wife obtain abortion pills to terminate a pregnancy in July 2022. The civil lawsuit seeks a compensation of $1. millions against each woman.
Since the US Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in June 2022, by eliminating federal abortion rights, Texas has been one of a dozen states to have imposed a total ban on abortion. It is illegal to “aid or abet” abortions in Texas, which the lawsuit claims defendants Jackie Noyola, Amy Carpenter and Aracely Garcia did.
The defendants could not immediately be reached for comment.
“Defendants Noyola, Carpenter, and Garcia knew they were aiding or abetting a self-managed abortion, which is an unlawful act and a criminal act of murder under Texas law,” the lawsuit argues.
Brittni Silva, who divorced her husband in February, according to the lawsuit, is not charged and is exempt from criminal or civil liability under state law.
Photos of text messages apparently between Brittni Silva, Noyola and Carpenter, attached as exhibits in the court documents, show the women discussing Silva’s pregnancy and her desire to obtain abortion pills in Texas.
“If I don’t have to travel, things would be so much easier,” Silva wrote, according to the screenshots.
Noyola and Carpenter offer links to websites where people can order the two-pill regimen, and both offered to let Silva self-manage her abortion at home, screenshots of the text message show.
The lawsuit alleges that Garcia, the third defendant, facilitated the delivery of the pills to Houston.
Marcus Silva is represented by attorneys Briscoe Cain, who is a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives, and Jonathan Mitchell, who is credited as the architect of Texas’ six-week ban that went into effect in September 2021. That law prohibited abortion. from six weeks into the pregnancy, and introduced a new execution mechanism; invited citizens to file civil lawsuits against anyone they believe violated the law by aiding, abetting, or providing an abortion to a woman beyond that point, for damages in excess of $10,000.
A status hearing in the case has been set for June 8.
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