In Houston, Texas, there is a religious group actively seeking men who are interested in pursuing legal action against individuals involved in assisting women with abortions. This includes doctors who have provided medical services for the procedure.
Texas Right to Life, the largest pro-life organization in the State of Texas, is a Christian group dedicated to advocating for the sanctity of life.
According to John Seago, president of Texas Right to Life, he believes that civil lawsuits provide the most effective means of enforcing the state’s abortion law and ultimately establishing a “pro-life state.”
“What we’re seeing right now is just an avalanche of illegal activity in Texas,” Seago said. “In a pro-life state where abortion is illegal, the businesses and organizations that promote it, abortion, have not stopped. They are promoting illegal abortions. They are promoting trafficking abortion pills into our state. And they’re promoting travel outside of the state for abortion.”
Men who have experienced the heartbreaking loss of a child due to abortion are now being encouraged to pursue civil wrongful death lawsuits against individuals, including doctors, who played a role in facilitating the termination.
Texas Right To Life has not disclosed the exact number of men who have come forward, but they have confirmed that no lawsuits have been filed as of now.
“We’re not willing to kind of disclose our our strategy yet as far as exactly who or how many cases we have, but for Texas Right To Life, our point is the pro-life movement needs to start swinging at these dangerous practices,” Seago said. “We’re expecting that you’ll see a couple of these big kind of attempts on several different legal strategies, but you’ll see those in the new year.”
President-Elect Donald Trump reclaiming the White House follows a surge of conservatives winning seats in both the House and the Senate during the November election.
According to Seago, this is something that is fueling the movement.
Opposition to the proposal comes from various organizations, including the Texas ACLU and the Center for Reproductive Rights.
Marc Hearron, Senior Counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights, issued the following statement:
“The anti-abortion movement is more emboldened than ever and is finally saying the quiet part out loud—they will go after everyone to end abortion access. Doctors, pregnant people, family members, anyone. We knew this was coming. Just last year, anti-abortion extremists found a vengeful, abusive ex-husband to file a lawsuit harassing and threatening his ex-wife and the people around her. They are trying to scare Texans from getting the health care they need, seeking to pit neighbor against neighbor. What is pro-family about this?”
Sarah Corning, an attorney at the ACLU of Texas, issued the following statement:
“Texas Right to Life’s latest strategy to stop all abortions in Texas encourages men to turn against their girlfriends, partners, and wives by suing people who help them access abortion care. Make no mistake, such lawsuits will lead to control and harassment in relationships. The way for men to get evidence of a medication abortion is to spy on their partners and invasive lawsuits act as a punishment for their partners’ reproductive choices.
“Ordering medication abortion into Texas and taking it yourself is legal. Providing your friend with information about medication abortion and options to leave the state is legal. Helping your neighbor leave the state for an abortion is legal. The U.S. Constitution protects the right to free speech and the right to travel, no matter what anti-abortion groups say.
“Texas Right to Life may be dissatisfied with that reality, but the response cannot be to deputize men to surveil pregnant people and sue their neighbors. Texans want fewer abortion restrictions, not more lawsuits.”