Texas woman sues pro-life group under state's abortion pill law for over $459K
A Texas woman is suing a national pro-life advocacy group, alleging that she should receive financial compensation because their leader and several members violated a state law the organization championed by ordering abortion drugs as part of an undercover operation.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, identifies the 26-year-old plaintiff by the pseudonym Maria Puerto. Students for Life of America (SFLA) President Kristan Hawkins and several other members of the group are named as defendants.
Puerto and her lawyers with Amplify Legal, the litigation arm of the pro-choice activist group Abortion in America, argue in the suit that Hawkins and her team “openly and flagrantly violated” House Bill 7 (HB 7), formerly titled the Woman and Child Protection Act.
The suit highlights a photo Hawkins shared on her Instagram story on March 23. It shows the SFLA president standing outside Space Center Houston with the caption, “Guess what we are doing? Ordering abortion pills undercover? Yep. Stay tuned.”
SFLA and other pro-life groups have repeatedly expressed opposition to mail-order abortions. They maintain that allowing women to undergo chemical abortions without an in-person doctor visit exposes them to severe and potentially fatal health risks.
“The complaint filed Tuesday alleges that several members of Students for Life, which lobbied for HB 7, publicly posted that they were ordering abortion pills to Texas in violation of this law,” a spokesperson for Amplify Legal told The Christian Post.
“By the plain language of the law, that means anyone can sue for this violation, including our client. Our client is a Texas mother of two who was forced to become a parent before she was ready because of the state’s abortion ban,” the spokesperson said. “She is now a struggling single parent raising two young children and caring for her ailing mother. If anyone were to benefit financially from laws like HB 7, it should be our client.”
According to the lawsuit, Puerto is seeking $459,782 from the defendants and SFLA under HB 7. She alleges that amount is the cost of raising two children from birth to age 18 in Texas.
HB 7 is a state law that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed on Sept. 17, 2025. It took effect Dec. 4, 2025. The law bans manufacturing or providing abortion-inducing drugs in or into Texas, and it allows private citizens to sue anyone who violates those prohibitions.
The law allows plaintiffs to sue for at least $100,000 in civil damages per violation. Other general plaintiffs can receive $10,000, with the rest of the award held in trust or directed to a chosen charity.
Puerto told The New York Times that if she wins, she plans to direct any remaining proceeds to Jane’s Due Process, an organization that tries to help minors in Texas obtain abortions or birth control pills.
In the lawsuit, Puerto claims her first pregnancy, in 2022, cost her both her job and her college scholarship. The suit also states that she became pregnant again in 2024 and felt “she was forced to carry a second pregnancy to term.”
“Texas law provides no obvious recourse for Ms. Puerto to seek financial support from the state,” the filing states.
SFLA Vice President of Media and Policy Kristi Hamrick said in a statement that the lawsuit is “misplaced.” She confirmed that the group plans to address it through legal counsel.
Hamrick argued that stories like the one described in the lawsuit are why SFLA supports initiatives such as Standing With You, which connects pregnant or parenting women with free resources and ensures they know their rights at school and in the workplace.
“In the complaint addressing Ms. Puerto’s alleged circumstances, we were, however, horrified to read about violations of Title IX, as she says that while in school, her needs as a pregnant mother were ignored, and that her rights under the ‘Pregnancy Non-Discrimination Act’ also appear to have been violated in the workplace,” Hamrick said. “Her circumstances need to be shared with legal authorities.”
“However, as the attorney named in the paperwork — Molly Duane — was once the Senior Staff Attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights and now has a practice focusing on attacking pro-life laws, it seems that once again, the goal of the abortion lobby is not to help a woman in need but rather to prop up abortion as an enterprise that is illegal in Texas,” the pro-life advocate continued.
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
