Lawsuit dismissed against doctor who defied Texas’ abortion law
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A doctor who intentionally defied a Texas abortion law’s lawyers says a court has dismissed the question of whether the public can sue healthcare providers that violate the restrictions for at least $10,000 in damages.
This follows the banning of abortions entirely in the state of Texas after Roe v. Wade was overturned. It is the first lawsuit of its kind against a provider to be resolved since S.B.8 went into effect.
Last year, Dr. Alan Braid wrote that he intentionally violated the Texas law after it took effect in September of 2021 in an opinion piece published in the Washington Post. He had performed an abortion on a woman when she was further than six weeks along. The law he was referring to, Senate Bill 8 also known as the Texas Heartbeat Act, bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy and is only to be enforced through lawsuits filed by private citizens.
The Center for Reproductive Rights represented Braid. They stated that the San Antonio court’s decision is important because it rejects that private citizens with no connection to the abortion have the ability to sue.
According to AP news, Braid said in a statement, “When I provided my patient with the care she needed last year, I was doing my duty as a physician… It is heartbreaking that Texans still can’t get essential health care in their home state and that providers are left afraid to do their jobs.”
Three lawsuits were filed against Braid but only the Texas case, filed by attorney Felipe Gomez, was taken up. Courts claimed that he did not have the legal right to sue because he was not directly affected by the provided abortion.
Braid was forced to close his practices in Oklahoma and Texas and now provides care in New Mexico and Illinois.