The doctor is the first to be sued under the new Texas law, which allows any citizen to sue another person for allegedly mailing or providing abortion pills into the state  

02.02.2026 (PRESS RELEASE) — Today, a California doctor was sued under a new Texas law (HB 7) that states that anyone can sue someone who allegedly manufactures, distributes, mails, or prescribes abortion pills into Texas, for a reward of at least $100,000. The Center for Reproductive Rights is defending the doctor, the first known person to be sued under the new law. In addition to doctors, anyone who is believed to deliver or provide abortion pills in Texas is at risk of being sued under the law—from a dad who hands his daughter pills to the pharmaceutical company that manufactures them. 

“Texas officials have already been going after doctors outside their borders, and now they’ve incentivized private citizens to do their bidding,” said Nancy Northup, President and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights. “This law is one of many meant to cut off access to abortion pills, which are a lifeline for women in post-Roe America.  Abortion opponents have launched a full-scale attack on abortion pills—in the courts, in legislatures, and inside the FDA. People need to wake up to the fact that the anti-abortion movement is trying everything possible to have mifepristone taken off the market nationwide or become much harder to get.”    

This lawsuit was brought on behalf of a disgruntled Texas man who claims the doctor allegedly prescribed abortion pills supposedly taken by the Texas man’s purported sexual partner. While the plaintiff is not suing the doctor for monetary damages under HB 7 yet, he expresses his intent to do so if he is able to uncover evidence of an alleged violation of HB 7 after the law took effect in December. Instead, the plaintiff is asking the court to block the doctor from mailing any abortion pills into Texas in the future. The plaintiff is also asking the court to block the doctor from countersuing under the “clawback” provision of California’s shield law. The claims filed today invoke the provisions of HB 7 that attempt to counteract shield laws like California’s. 

This law is part of a coordinated national strategy to make abortion pills inaccessible to women and communities in need. There are currently multiple cases in the Supreme Court pipeline that aim to rescind FDA approval of mifepristone nationwide or make it much harder to get. The FDA itself has launched a politically driven safety investigation of the drug, despite its 25-year safety record. Officials in states with abortion bans also are teeing up challenges to other states’ shield laws, hoping to give courts the opportunity to strike down these laws that protect doctors who mail abortion pills outside their state. California Governor Newsom recently denied an extradition request from Louisiana’s Attorney General, who is going after the same California doctor being sued in Texas.  

“This law goes against everything Texans value. It’s anti-freedom, anti-privacy, and anti-family,” said Marc Hearron, Associate Litigation Director at the Center for Reproductive Rights. “But these lawmakers are relentless in their attempts to scare doctors and patients from prescribing and accessing abortion pills – exactly because they are so safe, effective, and widely used across the United States.” 

The Center is also defending Texas midwife Maria Rojas in a baseless civil suit brought by Attorney General Ken Paxton. Paxton accuses Rojas of providing abortions in violation of the state’s total abortion ban and practicing medicine without a license. Rojas is currently being forced to wear an ankle monitor, and her clinics have been shut down by court order. Paxton has separately obtained a criminal indictment against Rojas based on the same alleged conduct. The criminalization of healthcare providers has a chilling effect on care and tragic real-world consequences, as seen in the death of Tierra Walker. Walker died of preeclampsia after being denied an abortion during her high-risk pregnancy. 

If you are the target of a civil lawsuit or investigation under Texas’ new abortion law and want to speak to a lawyer at the Center, please reach out to [email protected].   

 
###  

MEDIA CONTACT: [email protected]