Two plaintiffs from different states have filed a lawsuit in Texas state court against a San Antonio physician who claimed he had performed an abortion on a lady in violation of a new Texas law on Monday. The plaintiffs seek to challenge the legality of the legislation.
Disbarred attorneys in Arkansas and Illinois, both of whom have no apparent ties to anti-abortion campaigners, filed separate lawsuits against a San Antonio doctor who openly discussed the possibility of conducting an abortion on Monday. Private individuals, regardless of where they live, are empowered to sue physicians and anyone else who “aides and abets” an abortion done after the presence of heart activity in a foetus is discovered under the terms of Senate Bill 8, which was signed into law by President Barack Obama in January.
Judicial experts believe that cases filed in state court may be the most probable avenue for determining the legality of the Texas legislation, which has so far survived legal scrutiny and scrutiny. Two additional broad challenges have been filed in federal court, this time by abortion clinics and the Justice Department, both of which pose complex procedural issues.
Anti-abortion activists in Texas said that they never anticipated a large number of individuals to actually file cases, believing the procedure would be too expensive and time-consuming.
The abortion rights movement predicted that the legislation would create a Wild West where vigilantes would sue everyone connected with an abortion, from ride-share drivers to the families of pregnant women, in order to collect a payment. In order to avoid court review, the law’s unusual enforcement mechanism encourages private people to sue anybody engaged in the process other than the pregnant lady. This method is intended to prevent judicial scrutiny. If the plaintiffs are successful, they will get $10,000 in addition to having their legal costs paid.
Dr. Braid was represented by Marc Hearron, senior counsel for the Center for Reproductive Rights, an abortion rights organisation that claims the doctor used an ultrasound to detect cardiac activity before performing an abortion, indicating that the procedure did in fact violate the new state law. Dr. Braid is represented by Marc Hearron.
