A man is suing three women for wrongful death after they allegedly helped his ex-wife obtain abortion medication in a controversial case highlighting the challenges faced by individuals seeking reproductive healthcare.
Marcus Silva claims that assisting in a self-administered abortion is tantamount to aiding a murder and he is seeking $1million (£830,000) in damages, with a lawsuit filed in Galveston County, Texas, US.
The woman reportedly took the medication in July, weeks after the US Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, which had established a constitutional right to abortion in 1973.
The decision paved the way for states to pass increasingly restrictive laws on abortion, including Texas' controversial ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.
Abortion rights groups have criticised the lawsuit as an attempt to intimidate individuals seeking reproductive healthcare and those who support them.
They argue that the women are protected under Texas law, which prohibits individuals from being held liable for seeking or obtaining an abortion.
Autumn Katz, a lawyer with the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement: "This is an outrageous attempt to scare people from getting abortion care and intimidate those who support their friends, family, and community in their time of need.
"The extremists behind this lawsuit are twisting the law and judicial system to threaten and harass people seeking essential care and those who help them."
Silva is being represented by Jonathan Mitchell — a former Texas solicitor general who helped create one of the state’s abortion bans — attorneys from conservative legal group Thomas More Society and state Rep. Briscoe Cain, a Houston-area Republican.
“Anyone involved in distributing or manufacturing abortion pills will be sued into oblivion,” Cain said in a statement from the attorneys.
According to the lawsuit, the manufacturer of the pills will also be named as a defendant once it is identified in the discovery process.
The lawsuit claims it has text messages from among the women discussing how to obtain medication that could induce an abortion and how to aid the woman who was pregnant in planning to take the medication.
Lawsuits challenging abortion restrictions have arisen across the US as clinics have shuttered in Republican-dominated states.
Earlier this week in Texas — which has one of the strictest bans in the country, outlawing the procedure in nearly every case with the exception of medical emergencies — five women who said they were denied abortions even when pregnancy endangered their lives sued the state.
