Skip to content Skip to search

Republish This Story

* Please read before republishing *

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives Creative Commons license as long as you follow our republishing guidelines, which require that you credit The 19th and retain our pixel. See our full guidelines for more information.

To republish, simply copy the HTML at right, which includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to The 19th. Have questions? Please email [email protected].

— The Editors

Loading...

Modal Gallery

/
Sign up for our newsletter

Menu

Topics

  • Abortion
  • Politics
  • Education
  • LGBTQ+
  • Caregiving
  • Environment & Climate
  • Business & Economy
View all topics

The 19th News(letter)

News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday.

You have been subscribed!

Please complete the following CAPTCHA to be confirmed. If you have any difficulty, contact [email protected] for help.

Submitting...

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please email [email protected] to subscribe.

This email address might not be capable of receiving emails (according to Bouncer). You should try again with a different email address. If you have any questions, contact us at [email protected].

  • Latest Stories
  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Ways to Give
  • Search
  • Contact
Donate
Home

We’re an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy. Read our story.

Topics

  • Abortion
  • Politics
  • Education
  • LGBTQ+
  • Caregiving
  • Environment & Climate
  • Business & Economy
View all topics

The 19th News(letter)

News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday.

You have been subscribed!

Please complete the following CAPTCHA to be confirmed. If you have any difficulty, contact [email protected] for help.

Submitting...

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please email [email protected] to subscribe.

This email address might not be capable of receiving emails (according to Bouncer). You should try again with a different email address. If you have any questions, contact us at [email protected].

  • Latest Stories
  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Ways to Give
  • Search
  • Contact

We’re an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy. Read our story.

The 19th News(letter)

News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday.

You have been subscribed!

Please complete the following CAPTCHA to be confirmed. If you have any difficulty, contact [email protected] for help.

Submitting...

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please email [email protected] to subscribe.

This email address might not be capable of receiving emails (according to Bouncer). You should try again with a different email address. If you have any questions, contact us at [email protected].

Become a member

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

Abortion

Texas man drops lawsuit against women who allegedly helped his ex-wife get an abortion

The case was filed by Jonathan Mitchell, the anti-abortion lawyer who designed Texas’ 2021 abortion ban that is enforced through private lawsuits.

A bottle of Misoprostol tablets are displayed at a family planning clinic.
A bottle of Misoprostol tablets are displayed at a family planning clinic. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Eleanor Klibanoff, The Texas Tribune

Published

2024-10-11 09:40
9:40
October 11, 2024
am

Republish this story

Share

  • Bluesky
  • Facebook
  • Email

Republish this story

Almost two years ago, a Galveston man sued his ex-wife’s friends for wrongful death of a fetus for allegedly helping her obtain pills to terminate her pregnancy. The first-of-its-kind lawsuit set off a panic about a potential new avenue of abortion criminalization in post-Roe v. Wade America.

On Thursday, the claims were dropped with nothing to show for them.

This shocking test case was filed by Jonathan Mitchell, an anti-abortion legal crusader responsible for Texas’ novel ban on abortions through private lawsuits. That gambit, commonly known as SB 8, survived a court challenge. This wrongful death suit, which demanded $1 million from the two women for their “murderous actions,” did not.

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

Mitchell filed a notice of non-suit Thursday night asking the court to dismiss all of the claims and close the case, just as it was preparing to go to trial. The filing does not say why they dropped the claims, and Mitchell did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The original lawsuit alleged that Jackie Noyola and Amy Carpenter helped their friend obtain abortion-inducing medication after she found out she was pregnant by her soon-to-be ex-husband Marcus Silva. The women countersued, alleging Silva knew about the abortion and did nothing to stop it.

Silva’s ex-wife, who was not a party to either lawsuit, previously asked the court to dismiss the claims or at least not require her to produce documents or testify. She introduced text messages that allegedly show Silva using the threat of the lawsuit to try to get back together.

“So now he’s saying if I don’t give him my ‘mind body and soul’ until the end of the divorce which he’s going to drag out, he’s going to make sure I go to jail for [getting the abortion],” she said in a text message to her friends.

The case was preparing to go to trial this month after several continuances. In a statement, Noyola said she was grateful it was dismissed, but “angry” that it had been brought in the first place.

“After two years of being entangled in Mitchell and Silva’s campaign of abusive litigation, we were ready to fight this baseless suit in court,” Carpenter said in a statement. “But the claims were dropped because they had nothing. We did nothing wrong, and we would do it all again. ”

This story will be updated.

Republish this story

Share

  • Bluesky
  • Facebook
  • Email

Recommended for you

Justice consult documents inside the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Wisconsin Supreme Court seems poised to decide if abortion is protected by the state constitution
People gather for an abortion rights rally at the federal courthouse in San Antonio
Texas woman asks judge to let her terminate pregnancy after lethal fetal diagnosis
A closeup on hands with chipped nail polish holding a box that says mifepristone.
Texas files first lawsuit against out-of-state abortion provider
A view of the Texas Supreme Court bench
Texas Supreme Court temporarily halts ruling allowing Dallas woman to get an abortion

From the Collection

The 19th News Network

Illustration of a news network with partners republishing, curating and collaborating on news stories.
  • She didn't feel safe as a trans woman in America. So she found peace on the Atlantic Ocean.

    Emma Paidra, Uncloseted · May 2
  • University suspends nine gender, disability and ethnicity majors under new Ohio law

    Megan Henry, Ohio Capital Journal · April 24
  • Black women were at increased risk for lead absorption during the L.A. wildfires. Here’s why. 

    Elizabeth Moss, AfroLA · April 23

The 19th News(letter)

News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday.

You have been subscribed!

Please complete the following CAPTCHA to be confirmed. If you have any difficulty, contact [email protected] for help.

Submitting...

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please email [email protected] to subscribe.

This email address might not be capable of receiving emails (according to Bouncer). You should try again with a different email address. If you have any questions, contact us at [email protected].

Become a member

Explore more coverage from The 19th
Abortion Politics Education LGBTQ+ Caregiving
View all topics

Support representative journalism today.

Learn more about membership.

  • Transparency
    • About
    • Team
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Community Guidelines
  • Newsroom
    • Latest Stories
    • 19th News Network
    • Podcast
    • Events
    • Careers
    • Fellowships
  • Newsletters
    • Daily
    • Weekly
    • The Amendment
    • Event Invites
  • Support
    • Ways to Give
    • Sponsorship
    • Republishing
    • Volunteer

The 19th is a reader-supported nonprofit news organization. Our stories are free to republish with these guidelines.