|
 Alan Braid said in an opinion piece published in The Washington Post
on Saturday that he had broken a new Texas law which banned
abortions beyond the point where rhythmic contracting of fetal
cardiac tissue could be detected. The law leaves enforcement of the
ban to citizens, rewarding them at least $10,000 if they
successfully sue anyone who helped provide such an abortion and
paying their court costs.
In the cases filed on Monday, the state would be paying the costs of
testing the law. One of the plaintiffs who sued Braid, Oscar Stilley,
said in a phone call with Reuters on Monday that he opposes the
Texas law and wanted to be the first person to force a court to
assess its legality.
Texas' new abortion restrictions violate women's constitutional
rights, Stilley said.
"I think it's a decision between her and her doctor," he said when
asked whether he supported giving women the right to choose abortion
access.
Stilley, a disbarred lawyer, is on home confinement serving the 12th
year of a 15-year sentence for tax evasion and conspiracy.
The other plaintiff, Felipe Gomez, a suspended lawyer from Illinois,
alleged in his complaint that "the Act is illegal as written and as
applied here." Gomez did not immediately return a call for comment.
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 Monday's lawsuits are to date
the most direct test of the legality of the
Texas abortion ban, which is one of the most
restrictive such laws in the United States.
Abortion rights groups and the U.S. Justice
Department have also sued Texas over the law in
federal court, saying it violates a woman's
constitutional right to abortion before the
fetus is viable. Braid's office
in San Antonio referred requests for comment to the Center for
Reproductive Rights, which has pledged to represent Braid in any
lawsuit.
Asked for comment, the Center forwarded a statement from its senior
counsel, Marc Hearron, who acknowledged that the law enables anyone
to sue people who aid or abet abortions beyond the prescribed limit.
"We are starting to see that happen, including by out-of-state
claimants," the statement read.
Texas Right to Life, a state anti-abortion group, did not return a
call for comment.
 (Reporting by Julia Harte and David Thomas; Editing by Stephen
Coates)
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