9 August 28 - september 3, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents “They’re trying to say that the state’s been injured and this private person could bring the lawsuit, but it takes the state out of it completely... normally you can’t bring a lawsuit if you haven’t been injured,” said Amy Bresnen. “So that’s what’s going on. That’s why the wrongful death language was in there, because there has to be some sort of underlying tort claim. To be clear, in this case, the wrongful death would be the fetus that was aborted by one or two con- senting parents.” The Bresnens devoted lots of their energy this session to working on the Life of the Mother Act, which was signed into law on Aug. 19. The new law carefully provides a clear framework for when doctors can per- form life-saving abortions. But the Bresnens worry SB 7 could counteract some of the positives of the Life of the Mother Act. “[The Life of the Mother Act] was a bill that we worked on with medical groups dur- ing the legislative session and that passed, and it does provide great clarity,” said Amy Bresnen. “A lot went into that, and we don’t want to see the Life of the Mother act over- ridden by [SB 7].” SB 7 is still in the initial stages. A prior version, filed by Hughes during the regular session, cleared the Senate in a 19-11 vote but did not make it out of the House Committee on State Affairs. Filing a matching House Bill version is standard procedure for major legislation that Republicans want to pass, especially particularly contentious ones like abortion bills, but a House version of SB 7 has not been filed yet. The Bresnens are hoping that SB 7 will not succeed, and a House version will not be filed. “These medications are very important for non abortion use,” said Steve Bresnen. “A lot of the other part of our time has been… [spent] trying to make sure that… there’s no collateral damage done.” When the state passed the Texas Heart- beat Act in 2021, which outlawed most abor- tions, including medical abortions, Texas women were left with few options. Many re- sort to out-of-state providers, some of whom prescribe the pill via telehealth appoint- ments and ship the pill into the state. It is il- legal, but there are several organizations, like Plan C and Mutual Aid, that continue to provide care in states with shield laws. In December, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit on behalf of the state against a New York doctor who pre- scribed and shipped abortion-inducing drugs to a woman in Collin County. “In this case, an out-of-state doctor vio- lated the law and caused serious harm to this patient,” said Paxton in a release an- nouncing the suit. “This doctor prescribed abortion-inducing drugs—unauthorized, over telemedicine—causing her patient to end up in the hospital with serious compli- cations. In Texas, we treasure the health and lives of mothers and babies, and this is why out-of-state doctors may not illegally and dangerously prescribe abortion-induc- ing drugs to Texas residents.” In February, a Collin County district court issued a $100,000 civil penalty and or- dered a permanent injunction in a default judgment after Dr. Carpenter failed to re- spond to the suit. However, a county clerk for Ulster County in New York, exercising the state’s shield laws, rejected any attempts to enforce the judgment and collect the fee. In July, Paxton filed a petition against the county clerk. “Dr. Carpenter is a radical abortionist who must face justice, not get legal protec- tion from New York liberals intent on ending the lives of as many unborn children as they can,” said Paxton in a July press release. “No matter where they reside, pro-abortion ex- tremists who send drugs designed to kill the unborn into Texas will face the full force of our state’s pro-life laws.” Today, the attorney general issued sev- eral cease-and-desist orders against organi- zations, including Plan C, for promoting and providing abortion-inducing drugs. SB 7 al- lows private citizens to follow Paxton’s liti- gative lead, and Dr. Fuller says that if SB 7 is passed, the true burden will be on patients whose proper care will be unnecessarily threatened. “If SB7 is passed, the ability to handle ob- stetrical emergencies, miscarriage care and gynecologic services is inhibited by the po- tential of limitations of these medications, thus leading to potential lawsuits,” she said. “We have to fear lawsuits both from other citizens for using the medications through the “bounty hunter” provisions, and from our patients when care is compromised without them.” Adobe Stock A bill allowing private citizens to sue providers and producers of abortion- inducing pills in civil court passed the Senate Committee on State Affairs in a 10-1 vote. Seven of the 12 co-authors of the bill serve on the committee.
