Texas Right to Life filed a “friend of the court” brief asking the Supreme Court of Texas to affirm Texas law states that pregnant women cannot be prosecuted for illegal abortions, yet those who aid and abet elective abortions can.
After three women helped his ex-wife, Brittni, abort his child, Marcus Silva sued them for giving Brittni the abortion pills. Brittni is not a party in this case. In the process of gathering evidence, Silva subpoenaed his ex-wife. A Galveston County court agreed that Brittni needed to participate in the subpoena as Silva sought justice for his unborn son or daughter. Brittni appealed this issue to a higher court, which asserted she did not have to respond to the subpoena. Silva is now appealing that decision to the Supreme Court of Texas (Marcus Silva v. Jackie Noyola, Et Al.).
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Texas law explicitly exempts pregnant mothers from punishment if they obtain an illegal abortion and focuses prosecution upon those who benefit from and facilitate the child’s death. It is important that the state’s highest court prevents lower judges from misapplying the law to prosecute mothers, which the ruling from the liberal appeals court would permit. Texas Right to Life urges the Supreme Court of Texas to correct the appeals court’s errors and clarify that the law does not authorize women seeking abortions to be prosecuted or be the subjects of civil penalties.
The appeals court also wrongfully argued that Brittni could face charges under the federal Comstock Act, which regulates sending and receiving obscene materials in the mail. Indeed, shipping abortion pills is illegal under the Comstock Act, but neither Brittni nor her friends obtained the abortion pills by mail. Thus, the appeals court’s assertion is irrelevant. However, Texas Right to Life urges the Supreme Court of Texas to use this case to rebuke Joe Biden’s recent manipulation of the Comstock Act. In 2022, the Biden administration claimed that the federal law is too broad in order to persuade judges to ignore it. While the Comstock Act is not properly applied in this case, the policy is necessary to maintain the state’s right to defend preborn children from illegal abortion pills flooding into Texas.
Texas’ Pro-Life laws are saving babies and protecting women from the violence of abortion. However, the epic victories of the Pro-Life movement can easily be undone if we allow activist courts to rewrite and distort our laws.
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