A Texas man has filed a civil lawsuit against three friends of his former wife, alleging that they aided her in undergoing an abortion in violation of state law. The women have not been criminally charged.
Marcus Silva filed a wrongful death suit as well as a conspiracy suit in Galveston County on Thursday against the three women. His lawsuit documents contain screenshots of text messages that allegedly support his claim that the friends helped his ex-wife obtain the abortion pills that would ultimately kill his preborn child. The former couple has two born children.
The lawsuit states, “Under the law of Texas, a person who assists a pregnant woman in obtaining a self-managed abortion has committed the crime of murder and can be sued for wrongful death.” The pregnant woman who undergoes the abortion, however, is not liable under the pro-life law.
Silva’s lawsuit also reads, “[D]efendants Jackie Noyola and Amy Carpenter assisted Brittni Silva in murdering Ms. Silva’s unborn child with illegally obtained abortion pills. Ms. Noyola and Ms. Carpenter also instructed Ms. Silva to conceal their criminal and murderous actions from plaintiff Marcus A. Silva, the father of the child and the husband of Brittni Silva. Ms. Noyola arranged for the delivery of the illegal drugs from Aracely Garcia, which were used to murder baby Silva in July of 2022. Marcus Silva recently learned of the defendants’ involvement in the murder of his child, and he brings suit against them for wrongful death and conspiracy.”
Silva’s wife reportedly learned she was pregnant in July 2022, just weeks after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24, and following the enactment of Texas Senate Bill 8, which protects preborn children from abortion once a heartbeat can be detected at about six weeks — though a preborn child’s heart first begins to beat about 21 days after fertilization.
The lawsuit does not state why the woman wanted an abortion, but the couple ultimately divorced by February 2023, and the text messages between her and her friends make it appear as though she was planning to leave her husband when she learned she was pregnant. Silva’s wife is clear in the texts that she no longer wants to remain in the relationship and one friend states that she is concerned Silva will “snake his way into [Brittni Silva’s] head.” The conversation continued:
Amy: Mistakes happen. You can’t spiral. Hopefully this is the slap in the body that you need to remove yourself from him.
Brittni: Yea it is for sure. Can’t risk s**t like that generally. Especially with him
The friends discussed the possibility of traveling out of state to New Mexico or Colorado for an abortion, however, they ultimately decided on the abortion pill after two of the friends shared information from Aid Access, an international abortion group that ships the abortion pill by mail. Aid Access ships its pills through India, against warnings from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regarding the minimal government oversight of pharmaceutical companies in that country. The third friend arranged for the drugs to be shipped, according to the lawsuit. Some of the text messages appear to have been forwarded from a fourth person who would be supplying the abortion drugs.
The abortion pill typically consists of two drugs: mifepristone and misoprostol. Mifepristone blocks the naturally occurring pregnancy hormone progesterone and thereby deprives the child of nutrients. Misoprostol causes contractions to expel the baby. Countless women have shared their heartbreaking stories of seeing their baby’s bodies during at-home abortions by pill.
Taking the abortion pill without an examination by a doctor can be very dangerous for women. The abortion pill has been found to be four times more dangerous than a first-trimester surgical abortion, and six percent of women who take the abortion pill require care at an emergency room or urgent care facility. Risks include incomplete abortion, hemorrhaging, and infection. Taking the abortion pill while experiencing an undiagnosed ectopic pregnancy puts women at risk of death.
The FDA does not require mifepristone’s adverse events to be reported — unless the woman dies. The deaths of 28 women have been connected to the use of the abortion pill in the U.S.*
Silva also plans to sue the manufacturer of the abortion pill once it is identified.
*THE FDA HAS RECEIVED REPORTS OF SERIOUS ADVERSE EVENTS IN PATIENTS WHO TOOK MIFEPRISTONE. AS OF JUNE 30, 2022, THERE WERE 28 REPORTS OF DEATHS IN PATIENTS ASSOCIATED WITH MIFEPRISTONE SINCE THE PRODUCT WAS APPROVED IN SEPTEMBER 2000, INCLUDING TWO CASES OF ECTOPIC PREGNANCY (A PREGNANCY LOCATED OUTSIDE THE WOMB, SUCH AS IN THE FALLOPIAN TUBES) RESULTING IN DEATH; AND SEVERAL FATAL CASES OF SEVERE SYSTEMIC INFECTION (ALSO CALLED SEPSIS). THE ADVERSE EVENTS CANNOT WITH CERTAINTY BE CAUSALLY ATTRIBUTED TO MIFEPRISTONE BECAUSE OF CONCURRENT USE OF OTHER DRUGS, OTHER MEDICAL OR SURGICAL TREATMENTS, CO-EXISTING MEDICAL CONDITIONS, AND INFORMATION GAPS ABOUT PATIENT HEALTH STATUS AND CLINICAL MANAGEMENT OF THE PATIENT. A SUMMARY REPORT OF ADVERSE EVENTS THAT REFLECTS DATA THROUGH JUNE 30, 2022, IS HERE. THE FDA HAS REVIEWED THIS INFORMATION AND DID NOT IDENTIFY ANY NEW SAFETY SIGNALS. THE FDA INTENDS TO UPDATE THIS SUMMARY REPORT AS APPROPRIATE.
