A man in Texas who sued his ex-wife’s friends for helping her to obtain an abortion “is not and was not morally opposed” to her actions, the friends have claimed in a countersuit filed this week. Instead, they allege, he knew about her plans all along, but chose not to act as part of a yearslong pattern of emotional abuse.
Marcus Silva made national headlines in March for bringing a wrongful-death suit against three women—his wife Brittni’s friends Jackie Noyola and Amy Carpenter, and Texas abortion rights activist Aracely Garcia—in what was believed to be first such case since Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade last June. In his suit, Silva alleged that the women “conspired” to help Brittni get an abortion pill in July 2022, aiding in what he called the “murder” of his unborn child.
But Silva, “did not file this lawsuit because he is interested in ‘protecting life,’” Brittni’s friends said in their counterclaim. “Instead, he wanted to control a life, Brittni’s.”
In court records filed on Monday, Noyola and Carpenter claim that Silva had not only found the pill and a phone number for an abortion clinic hotline in Brittni’s purse, but had also gone through her phone and read text messages in which she and her friends discussed the self-managed abortion.
“Rather than talking with Brittni about what he found or disposing of the pill, Silva took photos of the texts and surreptitiously put the pill back,” the suit states. “He wasn’t interested in stopping her from terminating a possible pregnancy. Instead, he wanted to obtain evidence he could use against her if she refused to stay under his control, which is precisely what he tried to do.”
Silva then allegedly “laid in wait” for Brittni to have the abortion, which she did several days later. Less than two weeks after that, Silva confronted her about it, with Brittni texting Carpenter afterwards that he was threatening to have her thrown in jail “if she did not give herself to him ‘mind body and soul.’”
Noyola and Carpenter alleged that Silva, a “serial emotional abuser,” was trying to keep Brittni trapped with him. Brittni had filed for divorce in May 2022, but the pair continued living under the same roof for the next few months.
“Silva’s plan to blackmail and control Brittni failed,” the suit goes on to say, “and their divorce was finalized in February 2023. This did not stop Silva from continuing his abusive behavior. Approximately a month later, Silva turned his extortion plan into one for revenge and profit”—by suing the women for $1 million in damages each, something they called “as shocking as it is shameful” in their Monday filing.
“His petition makes no mention of the years of abuse to which he subjected his ex-wife,” their suit notes, explaining elsewhere that Silva had spent “years verbally attacking Brittni, seeking to manipulate and control her.”
In April 2022, according to the suit, Silva “got wildly drunk at a work event for Brittni,” and began loudly berating her in front of her colleagues, calling her a “slut” and a “whore.” The humiliation served as a catalyst for Brittni to file for divorce, and for Silva to become “increasingly abusive.”
The filing rejected Silva’s claim that the women are “murderers,” saying instead that Noyola and Carpenter’s “only offense was their willingness to talk with Brittni about her options, share information about available resources, and ultimately support her decision to self-administer abortion medication so as to terminate a possible pregnancy.” The pair also offered “solace and safe harbor” as she sought to break free from Silva’s control.
“In essence,” it adds, “they are being sued because they were good friends.”
The women’s counterclaim, first reported by the Texas Tribune, comes after reporting by NPR raised doubts about Silva’s story, with the outlet interviewing experts who suggested that he may have known about her plans in advance. NPR also obtained a police report Silva made just days after Brittni’s abortion, in which he told officers that he’d rifled through her purse and phone.
“If the jury comes to the conclusion that he knew full well that this was going on and did nothing about it, that strongly suggests that he suffered little to no emotional distress as a result of this happening,” one expert said at the time.
