A Texas woman is suing her ex-lover and an abortion pill distributor after being secretly given the drug to abort her daughter after the tablets were dissolved in hot chocolate.
Liana Davis filed a wrongful death lawsuit against U.S. Marine Christopher Cooprider, Aid Access and its founder on Monday, arguing they broke Texas law by assisting in an illegal abortion.
“The wrongful-death statute allows surviving parents to sue those who cause the death of an unborn child by a wrongful act, neglect, carelessness, unskillfulness or default,” read the complaint, filed in the Southern District of Texas. “Each of the defendants caused the death of Ms. Davis’ unborn child through their wrongful acts, which violated the law.”
Jonathan Mitchell, the lawyer for Ms. Davis, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about the uniqueness of the legal battle.
In the 33-page complaint, Ms. Davis alleges Mr. Cooprider harassed her for months to get an abortion when, at eight weeks pregnant, he ordered mifepristone and misoprostol from Aid Access, an Austrian company, and urged her to take the drug.
When she refused, he suggested the two have a night together to rebuild trust, and at that time he mixed the pills in hot chocolate. According to the legal document, he used 10 doses of one of the drugs and left the packaging behind at her place. The prescription was made out to him.
She began hemorrhaging after 30 minutes, and Mr. Cooprider left her on her own to find a ride to the hospital where doctors were unable to save her unborn daughter, whom she had named Joy.
According to the legal complaint, Mr. Cooprider and Aid Access broke Section 171 of Texas’ health and safety code regulations by allowing someone other than a Texas-licensed provider to administer abortion drugs, which is a state felony. The complaint also asserts that federal law prohibits the mailing of abortion-inducing drugs.
During the Biden administration, the Justice Department permitted the mailing of the drug. However, four states have outlawed it, according to the pro-choice Guttmacher Institute. Texas is one of them.
Texas law also makes abortion a felony unless the life of the mother is at risk. A violation can result in two to five years in prison.
A spokesperson from Aid Access didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Corpus Christi Police Department also didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about whether Mr. Cooprider and Aid Access face criminal charges.
Mr. Cooprider is a Marine pilot, according to the legal filing. A spokesperson from the U.S. Marine Corps said it knows of the civil lawsuit.
“Training Command is aware of a civil lawsuit involving a student at Marine Aviation Training Support Group 22 at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas. No further information is available, due to this being a civil matter,” the spokesperson told The Washington Times in an email.
Another man in the state was charged for similar conduct and landed behind bars. The Houstonian got 180 days in jail and 10 years’ probation after secretly drugging his wife with an abortion pill in an unsuccessful attempt to terminate the pregnancy.
Kelsey Pritchard, communications director for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said Ms. Davis’ boyfriend “poisoned her with 10 doses of the abortion drug.”
“The drugs he mixed in Davis’ hot chocolate ended her child’s life and caused her to hemorrhage and need emergency medical attention within 30 minutes. As a nation, we should be horrified by this story and the Biden administration’s reckless policy of mail-order abortion drugs that is fueling the rise of this new form of domestic violence,” Ms. Pritchard said.
