The lawsuit states that Marcus Silva’s then-wife discovered she was pregnant in July 2022 after the passage of Texas Senate Bill 8, which made most abortions illegal after approximately six weeks of pregnancy. The law also allows for private citizens to file civil suits against abortion providers or anyone who “knowingly engages in conduct that aids or abets the performance or inducement of an abortion. The couple divorced in February 2023 and Silva says he was the father of the fetus, the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit includes alleged text messages between Silva’s ex-wife and two of the defendants that appear to show them discussing obtaining pills to terminate the pregnancy, as well as disposing of the pregnancy test to hide the results from Silva. The third defendant is accused of helping to get the pills to Silva’s ex-wife, according to the lawsuit.
Silva’s ex-wife is not named as a defendant in the civil suit. The complaint notes that she is exempt under Texas law from liability as the person who underwent the abortion, and that Silva “is not pursuing any claims against her.”
Silva is seeking more than $1 million in damages from each of the women.
Silva intends to sue the manufacturer of the medication as well once it is identified.
The lawsuit relies heavily on screenshots from a group chat the ex-wife had with two friends seemingly seeking to help her terminate her pregnancy. Her friends expressed concern that Silva would “snake his way into your head.”
“I know either way he will use it against me,” the pregnant woman said, according to text messages attached to the complaint. “If I told him before, which I’m not, he would use it as [a way to] try to stay with me. And after the fact, I know he will try to act like he has some right to the decision.”
Joanna Grossman, a law professor at SMU Dedman School of Law, said this lawsuit is “absurd and inflammatory.” Since the pregnant patient is protected from prosecution, there is no underlying cause of action to bring a wrongful death suit in a self-managed abortion, she said.
