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Late last week, a Texas man named Marcus Silva sued three of his ex-wife’s friends, claiming they helped her get abortion pills in July 2022. Somehow, things get worse from there: Silva’s lawyers issued a statement Friday night, saying that abortion robs men of their chance of becoming fathers.
The lawsuit alleges helping someone have a medical abortion is murder in Texas, and Silva is suing the friends for wrongful death and $1 million in damages. (Texas law exempts pregnant women from prosecution for abortion, and his ex-wife is not named as a defendant.) Some details of the lawsuit are highly suspect: The former couple’s divorce was finalized in February, and it’s unclear how Silva viewed photos ex-wife is said to be presenting her text messages in court – a thumb can be seen in at least seven of the photos of her phone screen where the texts can be seen.
Silva is represented not only by Jonathan Mitchell, who invented the Texas bounty hunter abortion law, but also by the Thomas More Society, an anti-abortion law firm. Please brace yourself for men’s rights bullshit from a TMS attorney: “Abortion harms not only the unborn children who are killed, but also the fathers who have had their paternity stolen from them,” said Peter Breen, executive vice president and head of litigation in a statement. “We commend Mr. Silva for stepping forward and we will help any father seeking justice for his unborn child killed in an unlawful abortion.”
The absolute cheek of this man. First of all, consenting to sex does not mean consenting to pregnancy — let alone consenting to raising a child with someone over the age of 18. Pregnancy is dangerous in itself, even more so for people in abusive relationships where a male partner is forcing them into becoming or staying pregnant against their will. Men who are interested in fatherhood can make babies with women who want to raise those babies with them. To suggest that women and pregnant women who perform abortions are “stealing” men’s ability to become fathers is both insulting and frightening. And in this particular case, the complaint itself acknowledges that Silva and his ex already have two children, so it’s even more absurd.
It’s not very surprising to hear this from Breen, who according to his TMS bio has founded two anti-abortion pregnancy centers that provide no actual medical care and only exist to persuade women to stay pregnant and either parents to be or put the baby up for adoption . But it’s a good reminder that pro-choice advocates often want to force women to create and give birth to babies for other people. Creepy as damn.
