A HANDMAID’S TALE

Texas Man Files Legal Action Over Ex’s Out-of-State Abortion

His strategy reveals a potential new method of preventing women from traveling to other states for care.

A Texas man has petitioned a district court for the power to probe his former partner’s out-of-state abortion, a potential new anti-abortion strategy that would have disastrous consequences for women seeking health care beyond states with abortion bans. A lawyer for Collin Davis took advantage of a Texas legal mechanism which allows investigations on suspicion of illegal activity before bringing a suit, The Washington Post reported, and his petition claims Davis could sue for wrongful death under a Texas law that punishes anyone who “aids or abets” an abortion. Davis’ petition doesn’t include any evidence of illegal activity—it claims his ex-partner traveled to Colorado for her abortion, which is legal. But his strategy illuminates an alarming method men could use to prevent women from crossing state lines for abortion care, which has long been a target of the anti-abortion movement, as well as the role they could play in surveilling and reporting partners’ actions they may disapprove of.