A man has filed a complaint against three women who, according to him, provided his ex-girlfriend with abortion pills to terminate her pregnancy in Texas, a conservative state where abortion is now illegal. These lawsuits appear to be a first since the U.S. Supreme Court's about-face, which blasted abortion rights in June 2022. And they are attacking pills that have become crucial for access to abortion in the country.

The complaint, filed Thursday, notes that anyone helping a woman have an abortion can be prosecuted for murder, according to Texas laws. The complainant, Marcus Silva, alleges that his ex-wife became pregnant in July 2022, while they were still married, and hid her pregnancy from her. He accuses three women of helping his former partner to have an abortion, by providing her with abortion pills, and relies on private messages between them.

The ex-partner is not prosecuted

In the text messages, which appear to have been sent in a friendly setting, two of these women explain to Marcus Silva's ex-girlfriend how to get these pills. The third woman named then took care of the delivery of the medicines, according to the complainant. The complainant even intends to sue the manufacturer of the abortion pills used by his ex-wife, if he is identified, according to the complaint. Marcus Silva's ex-girlfriend, however, is not being prosecuted.



Abortion pills are at the heart of the battle for access to abortion in the United States, where 54% of abortions performed are medical. These stamps are seen as essential for defenders of this right. Women in the fifteen or so states where abortion is illegal can travel to neighboring states to get the pills, a simpler procedure than surgery. For the same reasons, opponents of abortion want to ban them at all costs.

Marcus Silva is also represented by a local Republican elected official and by conservative lawyer Jonathan Mitchell, architect of the recent very restrictive Texas law on abortion. A conservative judge in Texas is expected to rule soon on the authorization granted to the abortion pill by the drug regulator. A long-awaited decision, because it could lead to a ban on these tablets throughout the United States.

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