Texas doctor who defied state's new abortion ban is sued

The Center for Reproductive Rights, one of the plaintiffs in the first federal lawsuit, is representing Braid.

Nancy Northup, the center’s president and CEO, said they “stand ready to defend him against the vigilante lawsuits that S.B. 8 threatens to unleash against those providing or supporting access to constitutionally protected abortion care.”

Braid could not immediately be reached for comment Monday. His clinic referred interview inquiries to the center.

Texas Right to Life, the state’s largest anti-abortion group, criticized both lawsuits and Braid's opinion column.

“Neither of these lawsuits are valid attempts to save innocent human lives," the group said. ”We believe Braid published his op-ed intending to attract imprudent lawsuits, but none came from the Pro-Life movement."

Texas Right to Life launched a website to receive tips about suspected violations, though it is currently redirecting to the group's homepage. A spokeswoman for the group has noted that the website is mostly symbolic because anyone can report a violation and because abortion providers appeared to be complying with the law.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's office did not immediately return a message seeking comment Monday.

Joanna Grossman, a law professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, said that if a lawsuit against Braid reaches the Texas Supreme Court, that court could decide whether the Legislature exceeded its power by allowing anyone to sue.

“The Texas Supreme Court will have the opportunity/obligation to say whether this approach — which would not be limited to abortion — is an acceptable way for the Legislature to pursue its goals,” Grossman said.

Seth Chandler, a law professor at the University of Houston, said anyone suing would “have to persuade a Texas court that they have standing” despite not having personally suffered monetary or property damages.

“The only thing that might have happened is that they’re offended by the fact that the abortion has been performed," he said. “But there are a lot of Supreme Court decisions saying that merely being offended is not a basis for a lawsuit, and there are Texas Supreme Court decisions saying we follow federal law on what’s called standing.”

Braid said in the Post column that he started his obstetrics and gynecology residency at a San Antonio hospital on July 1, 1972, when abortion was “effectively illegal in Texas.” That year, he saw three teens die from illegal abortions, he wrote.

In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its Roe v. Wade ruling, which established a nationwide right to abortion at any point before a fetus can survive outside the womb, generally around 24 weeks.

“I have daughters, granddaughters and nieces," Braid wrote. “I believe abortion is an essential part of health care. I have spent the past 50 years treating and helping patients. I can’t just sit back and watch us return to 1972.”