Texas man settles lawsuit with women who helped his wife get abortion pills

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas man who sued his ex-wife’s friends for helping her have an abortion told the court that the two sides had reached a settlement and waived the need for a trial , who would have examined his argument that their actions were equivalent to assisting in a wrongful death.

Lawyers for Marcus Silva and the three women he sued last year filed court documents this week saying they had reached a settlement. As of Friday, the judge had not yet approved the settlement. Court records did not specify the terms, but a spokesman for the defendants said the settlement did not include financial terms.

“While we are grateful that this fraudulent case is finally closed, we are angry at ourselves and others who have been terrorized for simply supporting a friend who is being abused,” said Jackie Noyola, one of the women, in a statement. “No one should ever have to fear punishment, criminalization or a lengthy court battle for helping someone they care about.”

Abortion rights advocates feared the case could open new avenues for retaliation against people who help women get abortions and could have a chilling effect in Texas and across the country.

Silva filed a petition last year to sue his ex-wife Brittni Silva’s friends for giving her abortion pills. He claimed her help amounted to aiding and abetting murder and sought $1 million in damages, according to court documents.

Two of the defendants, Noyola and Amy Carpenter, filed a counterclaim against Silva for invasion of privacy. They dropped their counterclaims Thursday evening after the agreement was reached.

“This case was about using the legal system to victimize us for helping our friend and to stop others from doing the same,” Carpenter said. “But the claims were dropped because they had nothing. We didn’t do anything wrong and we would do it all again.”

Brittni and Marcus Silva divorced in February 2023, a few weeks before Silva filed his lawsuit. The defendants alleged in their countersuit that Silva was a “serial emotional abuser” out of revenge and illegally searched Brittni’s phone without her consent.

Silva was represented by Jonathan Mitchell, a former Texas attorney general who helped draft a strict Texas abortion law called Senate Bill 8 before the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade repealed in 2022.

Mitchell declined to comment Friday.

According to court documents, Brittni Silva took the drug in July 2022. It took a few weeks for the Supreme Court to allow states to impose abortion bans. The lawsuit alleged that text messages were exchanged between the defendants discussing how to obtain the abortion drugs.

Earlier this year, an appeals court blocked Silva’s lawyer’s attempt to gather information from his ex-wife about the wrongful death lawsuit against her friends. The decision was upheld by the Texas Supreme Court, which criticized Silva in the footnotes of a concurring opinion signed by two of its conservative justices, Jimmy Blacklock and Phillip Devine.

“He shamefully harassed and intimidated his ex-wife,” the statement said. “I cannot imagine a legitimate excuse for Marcus’ conduct as reflected in this record, many of the details of which are unsuitable for reproduction in a court report.”

Abortion is a key issue this campaign season and is the top priority for women under 30, according to KFF poll results.

Thirteen states ban abortions at all stages of pregnancy, including Texas, which has some of the strictest restrictions in the country. Nine states have introduced ballot measures protecting abortion rights this election.

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Lathan is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.