Yes, it is S.B 8. It is a completely messed up bill that allows anyone to sue someone for $10,000, plus court and attorney fees, for performing an abortion or aiding or abetting in an abortion. In other words, if someone gets an abortion, anyone can sue them, their doctor, the nurses, the Uber driver who took them to the clinic, their husband who agreed with their decision, or anyone else who could be said to have helped them get an abortion.
One bit of good news is that, in one case, a judge decided that you need to have standing to sue. That means that in order to sue someone under the law, you need to be personally affected by the abortion.
San Antonio judge Aaron Hass dismissed Gomez’ case Thursday, and that dismissal pointed to a central problem with S.B. 8: it has the potential to allow the wrong people to wage abortion lawsuits. Hass announced the dismissal of Gomez’s case from the bench and explained that plaintiffs like Gomez, who have no connection to the prohibited abortion and have not been harmed by it, do not have standing suit under the statute.
Didn’t Texas make it illegal to go out of state to get around their bans?
Yes, it is S.B 8. It is a completely messed up bill that allows anyone to sue someone for $10,000, plus court and attorney fees, for performing an abortion or aiding or abetting in an abortion. In other words, if someone gets an abortion, anyone can sue them, their doctor, the nurses, the Uber driver who took them to the clinic, their husband who agreed with their decision, or anyone else who could be said to have helped them get an abortion.
One bit of good news is that, in one case, a judge decided that you need to have standing to sue. That means that in order to sue someone under the law, you need to be personally affected by the abortion.
More good news is that the law has been challenge before the Texas supreme court. They have heard the case in in coming weeks or months they will make a decision.