Two women sued for wrongful-death by a Texas man who said they helped his ex-wife use an abortion pill without his knowledge have filed a counter claim alleging he knew his ex-wife planned to end the pregnancy and didn’t act to stop her.
(Bloomberg) — Two women sued for wrongful-death by a Texas man who said they helped his ex-wife use an abortion pill without his knowledge have filed a counter claim alleging he knew his ex-wife planned to end the pregnancy and didn’t act to stop her.
Jackie Noyola and Amy Carpenter claim Marcus Silva discovered the medication and read text messages between his former wife, Brittni Silva, and her friends detailing her plans to have an abortion before she had taken action, according to a state court lawsuit filed late Monday in Galveston, Texas.
Silva sued Noyola, Carpenter and a third woman, Aracely Garcia, in March seeking millions of dollars in damages. He alleged they violated the state’s wrongful-death law by helping Brittni Silva obtain abortion pills. He claims they conspired to keep their actions secret and that his wife decided to have an abortion without his “knowledge or consent.” Marcus Silva didn’t name his ex-wife in the suit, because a pregnant person can’t be prosecuted for such a crime under Texas law.
Read more: Texas Man Sues Women He Says Helped Ex-Wife Get Abortion Pills
In their counter suit, Noyola and Carpenter claim Marcus Silva was emotionally abusive toward his ex-wife and used his knowledge of her abortion decision to blackmail her while they were going through their divorce.
“Rather than talking with Brittni about what he found or disposing of the pill, Silva took photos of the texts and surreptitiously put the pill back,” layers for Noyola and Carpenter said. “He wasn’t interested in stopping her from terminating a possible pregnancy. 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 lawsuit includes an image of a police report that the women claimed Silva filed with the League City Police Department in the days after his ex-wife took the abortion medication to terminate her pregnancy. In the report, Silva appears to tell the responding officer that he discovered an abortion pill in his wife’s purse and accessed her phone to read text messages she exchanged with friends prior to the decision.
Noyola and Carpenter are suing Silva for invasion of privacy and for accessing a computer without the owner’s consent. The first hearing in the case is set for June 8 in Galveston.
Marcus Silva is represented by Jonathan F. Mitchell, who championed the Texas Heartbeat Act — a separate law that lets private citizens sue those who facilitate abortions after fetal cardiac activity can be detected — and state Representative Briscoe Cain. Mitchell did not return a request for comment on Thursday.
The case is Silva v. Noyola, 23-cv-0375, Galveston County Court for the 56th District.
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