Abortion groups sued Pro-Life advocate Mark Lee Dickson and Right to Life of East Texas for defamation because he said that abortion is murder. After a Dallas-area appeals court ruled against him, Dickson now turns to the Supreme Court of Texas to defend his free speech rights.
Texas Right to Life filed a court brief Monday urging the Supreme Court of Texas to take up the case.
Dickson argues, in part, that the court of appeals’ ruling subjects constitutionally protected speech to a defamation lawsuit even though the abortion groups that are bringing the lawsuits were not named in his statements.
In issuing their judgment in favor of the abortion groups, The Afiya Center and Texas Equal Access Fund, Texas’s Fifth Court of Appeals sided with the trial court, which denied Dickson’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit against him.
This legal attack presents a major threat to Pro-Life advocates’ free speech and shows how pro-abortion groups are attempting to punish opposing views. Not only that, but such abusive lawsuits would make it impossible to debate Pro-Life laws in public policy and create a split in Texas’s courts of appeals.
If the Supreme Court of Texas does not weigh in, this will open the door for abortion groups to silence the speech of all Pro-Life Texans advocating for the lives of the preborn.
Texas Right to Life is no stranger to these lawsuits, as we have been sued 14 times by the abortion industry.
Joining Texas Right to Life on the brief are:
- The Republican Party of Texas;
- Grassroots America – We the People;
- True Texas Project;
- Texas Eagle Forum;
- The Texas Young Republican Federation;
- Houston Young Republicans;
- Texas Pastor Council;
- The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention;
- Human Coalition Action;
- Students for Life of America;
- Texas Home School Coalition;
- Concerned Women for America; and
- Texas Values.
Texas Right to Life General Counsel Emily Cook stated:
“We filed this brief in support of Dickson on behalf of all Pro-Life Texans who believe in the freedom of speech protected by the First Amendment. For the sake of the devastating impact this precedent could set for Pro-Life advocates in Texas, the Texas Supreme Court must weigh in.”
The abortion industry is clearly desperate – they will try every tactic in the books to silence the Pro-Life movement. We must stand together against cancel culture and defend the unborn.