Texas Women Defeat Wrongful Abortion Claims From Friend's Husband (original) (raw)

A Texas man has dropped wrongful death claims against three women he says assisted his former wife in obtaining medicine for an unlawful abortion.

Marcus Silva abandoned the case and agreed to not try it again, according to a district court filing in Galveston County on Thursday.

The move comes three days after Judge Lonnie Cox refused Silva’s request to delay a trial set to begin Monday.

In exchange for dropping the case, two of the women Silva sued agreed to drop counterclaims against him for invasion of privacy and for accessing a computer without the owner’s consent, court records show.

Silva sued Jackie Noyola, Amy Carpenter, and a third woman, Aracely Garcia, in March 2023 seeking millions of dollars in damages. He alleged they violated Texas’s wrongful death law by helping Brittni Silva, his then wife, obtain abortion pills to terminate a pregnancy in July 2022.

Texas’ abortion laws at the time permitted terminations only in the care of a doctor or another licensed health care provider, the lawsuit alleged. None of the women meet those qualifications.

Brittni Silva, whose divorce from Marcus was finalized in February 2023, wasn’t named in the lawsuit because a pregnant person can’t be prosecuted for getting an abortion under Texas law.

Silva’s case began to deteriorate this spring when a Texas appeals court, reversing a trial court’s decision, said he doesn’t have a right to compel evidence from Brittni Silva. Marcus Silva made seven requests for evidence from his ex-wife, including a copy of all communications she had with anyone—including the defendants—about efforts to acquire abortion-inducing drugs. He also sought all abortion-inducing drugs in her possession.

The Houston appeals court held that turning over evidence had the potential to violate Brittni’s Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. The Texas Supreme Court declined to overturn the decision in June, complicating Marcus’ efforts to prove Brittni got an abortion, or that she was even pregnant to begin with.

Marcus Silva is represented by Jonathan F. Mitchell, who championed the Texas Heartbeat Act—a separate law that lets private citizens sue those who facilitate abortions after fetal cardiac activity can be detected—and state Rep. Briscoe Cain (R).

Carpenter and Noyola are represented by Rusty Hardin & Associates and Thompson Coburn LLP. Garcia is represented by Arnold & Porter and the Center for Reproductive Rights.

The case is Silva v. Noyola, Tex. Dist. Ct., No. 23-cv-0375, notice of non-suit 10/10/24.