Texas man drops charges against women he accused of helping wife get abortion pills

AUSTIN, TX – A Texas man who sued his ex-wife’s friends for helping her obtain an abortion informed the court that the two sides had reached a settlement, waiving the need for a trial that would have tested his argument that their actions amounted to aiding in a wrongful death. .

Lawyers for Marcus Silva and the three women he sued last year filed court papers this week saying they had reached a settlement. Two of the women sued Silva for invasion of privacy, but also dropped their lawsuits, according to court records.

As of Friday, the judge had not yet signed the settlement. Court records did not include terms, but a spokesperson for the defendants said the settlement did not involve any financial conditions.

“While we are grateful that this fraudulent case is finally over, we are angry at ourselves and others who were terrorized for simply supporting a friend who was being abused,” said Jackie Noyola, l ‘one of the women, in a press release. . “No one should ever have to fear punishment, criminalization or a lengthy legal battle for helping someone they care about. »

Abortion rights advocates feared the case could open new avenues of legal action against people who help women have abortions and create a chilling effect in Texas and across the country.

Silva filed a motion last year to sue the friends of his ex-wife, Brittni Silva, for providing her with abortion pills. He claimed their assistance amounted to aiding murder and sought $1 million in damages, according to court documents.

Two of the defendants, Noyola and Amy Carpenter, sued Silva for invasion of privacy. They dropped their counterclaims Thursday evening after reaching a settlement.

“This case was about using the legal system to harass us for helping our friend and to scare others into doing the same,” Carpenter said. “But the complaints were dropped because they had nothing. We didn’t do anything wrong and we would.” start all over again.

Brittni and Marcus Silva divorced in February 2023, weeks before Silva filed suit. The defendants alleged in their countersuit that Silva was a “serial emotional abuser” seeking revenge and that he illegally searched Brittni’s phone without her consent.

Silva was represented by Jonathan Mitchell, a former Texas solicitor general who helped draft a strict Texas abortion law, known as Senate Bill 8, before the state Supreme Court United States does not overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022.

Mitchell declined to comment Friday.

Brittni Silva took the drug in July 2022, according to court documents. This was a few weeks after the Supreme Court allowed states to ban abortion. The lawsuit claimed that text messages were shared between the defendants discussing how to obtain the abortion medications.

Earlier this year, an appeals court blocked an attempt by Silva’s attorney to gather information from his ex-wife in the wrongful death lawsuit against his friends. The decision was upheld by the Texas Supreme Court, which criticized Silva in the footnotes of a concurring opinion signed by two of its conservative justices, Jimmy Blacklock and Phillip Devine.

“He engaged in shamefully vicious acts of harassment and intimidation against his ex-wife,” the notice states. “I can imagine no legitimate excuse for Marcus’s behavior as reflected in this filing, many of the details of which are not suitable for reproduction in a judicial opinion.”

Abortion is a key issue this campaign season and the No. 1 priority for women under 30, according to KFF survey results.

Thirteen states ban abortions at all stages of pregnancy, including Texas, which has some of the strictest restrictions in the country. Nine states have passed ballot measures to protect abortion rights this election.

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Lathan is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-reported issues.