{"id":299849,"date":"2023-10-09T06:38:35","date_gmt":"2023-10-09T11:38:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=299849"},"modified":"2023-10-07T10:51:46","modified_gmt":"2023-10-07T15:51:46","slug":"discovery-requests-filed-texas-groups-funding-abortion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/discovery-requests-filed-texas-groups-funding-abortion\/","title":{"rendered":"Discovery requests filed against Texas groups funding abortions inside and outside the state"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this guest post are solely those of the guest author.<\/i><\/p>\n

In mid-September, Attorney Jonathan F. Mitchell, the architect of the private enforcement mechanism of the Texas Heartbeat Act, filed discovery requests against the Lilith Fund, Fund Texas Choice, the Frontera Fund, the Afiya Center, the West Fund, Jane\u2019s Due Process, Buckle Bunnies Fund, the Clinic Access Support Network, and abortionist Ghazaleh Moayedi.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The discovery requests, filed on behalf of several clients of Mitchell, were made as part of the <\/span>Fund Texas Choice v. Paxton<\/em> (2023)<\/span><\/a> case. Defendant Mistie Sharp\u2019s first <\/span>set<\/span><\/a> of written discovery to plaintiff Lilith Fund states, \u201cThe federal rules of civil procedure require Lilith Fund to submit its answers in writing and under oath, and to serve those answers on Ms. Sharp\u2019s attorney. The interrogatories must be: (i) answered separately and fully in writing under oath on the basis of all available information; (ii) signed by the person answering them; and (iii) served on Ms. Sharp\u2019s attorney within thirty (30) days after service of the interrogatories, unless the Court extends the time for answering.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A few of the interrogatories are as follows:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Interrogatory No. 2: Identify all persons who you believe have knowledge of any past violation of the Texas Heartbeat Act (also known as Senate Bill 8), and identify the issues upon which you believe they have knowledge.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Interrogatory No. 3: Identify all persons who you believe have knowledge of any <\/span>person that intends to violate the Texas Heartbeat Act (also known as Senate Bill 8) <\/span>at any point in the future, and identify the issues upon which you believe they have knowledge.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Interrogatory No. 4: Identify all persons of whom you are aware, as well as those <\/span>whom you can identify after undertaking a reasonable inquiry with the exercise of due <\/span>diligence, that dispense abortion-inducing drugs to pregnant women residing in Texas <\/span>and allow or instruct any one of those pregnant women to complete any part of the <\/span>abortion process in Texas, either by ingesting either of the two abortion-inducing <\/span>drugs in Texas or by expelling the unborn child in Texas.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Defendant Shannon D. Thomason\u2019s first <\/span>set<\/span><\/a> of written discovery to plaintiff Lilith Fund, contains a different set of interrogatories. The first interrogatory reads:<\/span><\/p>\n

Interrogatory No. 1: Identify every abortion that you have assisted or facilitated in <\/span>any way since September 1, 2021. This includes every abortion that you paid for in whole or in part, subsidized in any way, or reimbursed or defrayed the costs of, including payments, subsidies, or reimbursements made for travel costs, lodging, childcare, or any other cost or expense associated with an abortion or a person\u2019s efforts to obtain an abortion. This also includes abortions for which you provided any type of practical, logistical, and emotional support.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

For each of these abortions described in Thomason\u2019s Interrogatory No.1, the abortion advocate is asked to provide (1) the date or dates on which the abortion occurred, (2) the name, address, and telephone number of the abortion provider who performed the abortion or provided the abortion-inducing drugs, (3) the method by which the abortion was performed, (4) whether the abortion was self-managed, (5) the gestational age of the unborn child that was aborted, (6) the city and state of residence of the mother who aborted or sought to abort her unborn child, (7) the identity of everyone who was a part of the abortion assistance organization involved in assisting or facilitating the abortion, (8) how the abortion assistance organization assisted or facilitated the abortion, and (9) the identity of every person, other than the mother of the unborn child and her family members, who assisted or facilitated the abortion and how those persons assisted or facilitated the abortion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n