Texas Man-Child Drops Tantrum Suit Against Abortion Allies

Texas Man Drops Abortion Lawsuit: Sanity Prevails, For Now

In a rare moment of reason in the Lone Star State, a Texas man has dropped his lawsuit against three women who helped his ex-wife obtain abortion pills. Thistitillating tale of patriarchy and control was set to wow the courts just days before the trial. Alas, we’re denied the circus.

Galveston County resident Marcus Silva, in a fit of misogynistic pique, sued three friends of his ex-wife Brittni under wrongful death claims back in March 2023. The suit marked the first such case under Texas' draconian near-total abortion ban, despite the abortion occurring in July 2022, before the state's "trigger law" took effect. Because, you know, who cares about timelines when you’re on a crusade?

The trigger law, for those who need a refresher, banned all abortions after fertilization in late August 2022, thanks to our esteemed Supreme Court striking down the federal right to abortion established in Roe v. Wade. Good times.

Prominent anti-abortion attorney Jonathan Mitchell — yes, the same guy who crafted Texas’ 2021 law allowing residents to enforce a six-week abortion ban — and state Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, filed the original complaint on Silva's behalf. Because why not bring in the big guns when you're on a misogynistic mission?

Silva claimed in the complaint that the women "conspired with Brittni to obtain abortion pills illegally and to use those illegally obtained abortion pills to murder baby Silva." Yes, you read that right. "Murder."

The defendants, in response, aptly described Silva as a "serial emotional abuser" and accused him of using evidence of the abortion to blackmail his then-wife. Bravo, ladies.

Silva, in a move straight out of a creepy stalker handbook, suspected the abortion after searching his wife's purse and phone, reading her texts, and finding a metformin pill. He then put the pill back. Classy.

"He wasn’t interested in stopping her from terminating a possible pregnancy," the defendants' lawyer, Rusty Hardin, wrote in the response. "Instead, he wanted to obtain evidence he could use against her if she refused to stay under his control, which is precisely what he tried to do."

The response cites text messages in which Brittni told friends that he was threatening to have her thrown in jail if she did not give herself to him “mind body and soul.” Charming.

Both parties — Silva and the three women he sued — filed notices late Thursday night asking the judge to dismiss the case, with each side agreeing to pay their own attorney's fees. Finally, some sanity.

The request for dismissal comes after Republican state District Judge Lonnie Cox denied Mitchell's motion to delay a trial, which was set to begin Monday in Galveston County court. The trial date had previously been pushed from May to October. Cox also rejected Mitchell's motion to compel compliance with discovery on Oct. 7.

Silva and Mitchell had attempted to compel Silva's ex-wife to furnish further evidence in the case, but were unable to after she invoked her right against self-incrimination, according to court filings. The 14th Court of Appeals ruled in Brittni Silva's favor, and the Texas Supreme Court denied Mitchell's petition to reverse the lower court's ruling. Score one for women’s rights.

Pregnant Texans who obtain abortions cannot be prosecuted or sued for the terminations under state law, though accomplices or people who perform the procedures, including physicians, can face criminal and civil penalties. Because apparently, we haven’t reached peak hypocrisy yet.

The American-Statesman reached out to Mitchell as well as Hardin for comment but did not immediately receive a response. Shocker.

Stay woke, friends. The fight for reproductive justice rages on.