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Texas Woman Sues Anti-Abortion Group Under Law It Helped to Pass

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17.10.2026

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A Texas woman is using a state law banning the transport of abortion pills to sue members of the anti-abortion organization Students for Life of America.

In the suit filed Tuesday in a Harris County district court, plaintiff Maria Puerto, a 26-year-old mother of two using a pseudonym to protect her family, alleges that four anti-abortion activists had ordered abortion medication on their phones in March 2026 outside of the Space Center Houston. The lawsuit cites, among other things, a now-expired social media post by one of the defendants captioned “Guess what we are doing? Ordering abortion pills undercover? Yep. Stay tuned.”

Known as the Woman and Child Protection Act, House Bill 7, which went into effect in December, prohibits providing an “abortion-inducing drug” to or from anyone in the state of Texas. The law is enforced by allowing almost any person, regardless of whether they have been impacted by the incident, to bring a civil suit against a provider of abortion medication. Plaintiffs may seek an injunction and a minimum of $100,000. If the person bringing the suit has no connection to the incident, the plaintiff receives $10,000, with the remainder of the award going to a charity selected by the plaintiff.

The lawsuit does not specify how the defendants violated HB 7. While the law does not explicitly bar the ordering of abortion medication, it does prohibit the transport of the drug within the state.

“What the statute says is that transporting abortion drugs from one location to another within the state is a violation of HB 7 … By the plain language of the statute, this would seem to be a violation,” Puerto’s attorney Molly Duane told The Texas Tribune. “This is the problem with writing such a confusing and vague........

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