Estate of Baby Villegas v Jackrabbit Family Medicine (Arizona)

We are defending an Arizona physician and abortion clinic against a lawsuit by a patient’s ex-husband alleging wrongful death of an 8-week embryo.  The plaintiff claims that Arizona’s biased counseling law—which requires abortion providers to deliver certain biased information to their patients, including directing patients to a government website that promotes anti-abortion centers also known as “crisis pregnancy centers”— deprived his ex-wife of the ability to consent to her own abortion.  Over her objection, he is asking the court to award him money damages for the abortion, including the expected lifetime earnings of the embryo, had it been born, and punitive damages. 

If the lawsuit is successful, it would establish a dangerous precedent in Arizona concerning embryonic personhood and chill the provision of abortion care.  We argue that the biased counseling law is unconstitutional; a pre-viability embryo or fetus is not a person; and a physician cannot be subject to a wrongful death action for providing high-quality abortion care to a patient who wants an abortion. 

Estate of Baby Villegas; Mario Villegas

Jackrabbit Family Medicine d/b/a Camelback Family Planning and Gabrielle J. Goodrick, M.D.

Slutes, Sakrison & Rogers 

The Court Hears Oral Argument on the Motions for Summary Judgment

Defendants File a Response in Opposition to Plaintiffs’ Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment and Reply in Further Support of their Motion for Summary Judgment 

Plaintiffs file a Revised Response to Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment and Revised Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment 

Defendants File a Motion for Summary Judgment  

Second Amended Complaint is filed 

Initial Complaint is filed