A Texas Jugde Dissmised A Lawsuit Against Doctor That Provided An Abortion

After the overturn of Roe v. Wade, a trigger law lifted an abortion ban in Texas. In September 2021, Dr. Alan Braid, a longtime physician in obstetrics and gynecology, wrote an opinion piece for the Washington Post with the headline “Why I violated Texas’s extreme abortion ban”. In the piece, Dr. Braid wrote that he provided an abortion to a woman that could not access an abortion legally. After the publication of the piece, a person issued a lawsuit against Dr. Braid. A state district judge in Bexar County on Thursday dismissed the lawsuit, according to the Austin American-Statesman.

Under current state law, it is a felony to perform an abortion at any point in a woman’s pregnancy, except to save the life of a pregnant patient or if the patient risks “substantial impairment” of a major bodily function. There are no exceptions for cases of rape or incest. Because of that, after Felipe Gomez, a retired attorney from Illinois, read Dr. Braid’s piece, he decided to issue a lawsuit. Gomez, who describes himself as pro life, said to Austin American-Statesman that he decided to sue because he is “interested in making sure laws are correct and don’t violate anybody’s rights.”

The state district judge dismissed the lawsuit arguing that although it is illegal to provide an abortion in Texas, a person does not have legal standing to sue if they haven’t been directly affected by the abortion services provided.