Dr. Alan Braid, a San Antonio doctor who performed an abortion, is facing multiple lawsuits for defying the new restrictive Texas abortion law, which bans abortion after six weeks.
In a Washington Post opinion column, Braid revealed himself to be the first doctor to openly violate the new Texas law.
In his op-ed, Braid wrote: “I fully understood that there could be legal consequences — but I wanted to make sure that Texas didn’t get away with its bid to prevent this blatantly unconstitutional law from being tested.”
Though prosecutors cannot take legal action against Braid, private citizens are entitled to claim up to $10,000 in damages if their lawsuits are successful.
Oscar Stilley, a former Arkansas lawyer who was disbarred after being convicted of tax fraud, is suing to force a court review of the new Texas law. “I don’t want doctors out there nervous and sitting there and quaking in their boots and saying, ‘I can’t do this because if this thing works out, then I’m going to be bankrupt,'” he said.
Felipe N. Gomez, who also wants the Supreme Court to declare the new law unconstitutional, is also suing. “If Republicans are going to say nobody can tell you to get a shot they shouldn’t tell women what to do with their bodies either,” he said. “I think they should be consistent.”
Many legal experts believe that Supreme Court will eventually declare the law unconstitutional.
