A man in Galveston, Texas, has dropped a lawsuit he filed against three friends of his ex-wife who helped her terminate a pregnancy.
Marcus Silva sued Jackie Noyola, Amy Carpenter and Aracely Garcia after they helped his ex-wife, Brittni Silva, obtain abortion-inducing medication. Marcus Silva sued Noyola, Carpenter and Garcia for “murderous actions” that caused the unlawful death of “baby boy Silva.” He sought $1 million from each woman.
A Texas law called the “Heartbeat Act” bans most abortions after six weeks. It states that anyone (other than an employee of the government) is allowed to sue any person who “performs or induces an abortion” or who “aids or abets the performance or inducement of an abortion” after the six-week limit.
The law does not allow the person seeking an abortion to be sued, but its language is broad enough that it would cover medical professionals, friends who tried to assist a pregnant person or a taxi driver who transported a person seeking an abortion across the border to another state.
Under the terms of the law, the person suing does not have to know the pregnant person. If they are successful in court, their legal fees will be covered, and they will receive $10,000.
The lawsuit was brought by Jonathan Mitchell, an attorney and former Texas solicitor general whom The Texas Tribune described as “an anti-abortion legal crusader responsible for Texas’ novel ban on abortions through private lawsuits.”
The New York Times reported that Mitchell sought to use the case to win a legal ruling that fetuses have the same rights as adults. So-called “fetal personhood,” the newspaper noted, has been a longstanding goal of the anti-abortion movement.
Mitchell defended his actions, telling The Times, “We see lawyers representing Al Qaeda terrorists at Guantánamo Bay, serial murderers on death row, child molesters like Jeffrey Epstein. I’m representing fathers of aborted fetuses who have every right to pursue the legal remedies that the law provides.”
In this case, Noyola and Carpenter fought back with a counter-lawsuit. They asserted that Marcus Silva knew his ex-wife was pregnant but did nothing about it.
Carpenter told The Tribune that even though the case has been settled, she’s angry that it was ever brought.
“These laws are just a disgusting gift to abusers,” Carpenter said. “That’s who they’re written for, because no decent human is going to try to criminalize people for helping their friend.”
Carpenter, who had not previously been involved in abortion advocacy, said the incident has inspired her to keep fighting.
“The goal was to scare and to keep women quiet and I think for Jackie and I, it’s done the complete opposite of that,” Carpenter remarked. “If anything, it’s made us more emboldened.”