AUSTIN, Texas — A Texas man is petitioning a court to authorize an obscure legal action to find out who allegedly helped his former partner obtain an out-of-state abortion, setting up the latest test of the reach of statewide abortion bans.
As some states work to expand abortion access and others impose more limits following the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe V. Wade, antiabortion activists have begun testing the boundaries of statewide bans in court. Abortion advocates call these legal actions a scare tactic, and stress that crossing state lines to obtain an abortion remains legal.
Both sides agree the Texas case could test the meaning of “leave it to the states,” a phrase echoed by former President Donald Trump on the campaign trail.
Documents pertaining to this Texas petition have been sealed by the court for the woman’s safety, but according to The Washington Post, which first reported the legal action, the man’s attorney is Jonathan Mitchell, a former Texas solicitor general and architect of Texas’ strict abortion ban. Representing the woman is the Center for Reproductive Rights and attorneys at Arnold and Porter.
Her attorneys say the man has made a “Rule 202” request — a filing that usually precedes a lawsuit when illegal activity is suspected. If approved, the court could allow the man to seek documents related to the alleged procedure and order the woman and others accused of helping her to sit for depositions.
The Texas abortion ban provides for enforcement either through a private civil action or under the state’s criminal statutes, which were updated to prohibit nearly all abortions, punishable by up to life in prison for anyone held responsible for helping a woman obtain one.
This is the first legal action they’ve seen to assert that women can’t leave Texas to get an abortion somewhere else, said Marc Hearron, a senior counsel at the center.
“Being involved in or helping someone get a legal abortion outside of Texas is legal,” said Hearron. “There is nothing wrong with it.”
Mitchell did not immediately respond to multiple calls from The Associated Press seeking comment.
“The limit on the ability to travel is a step beyond what I think we have seen anywhere,” said Michelle Simpson Tuegel, an attorney who specializes in women’s rights cases. “I pray we are not living in times where our high courts are going to say that our home states can trap us when we are pregnant.”
Since the U.S. Supreme Court ended…
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