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Texas woman sues Students for Life president and staff under state abortion-pill law

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 3 outlets, all left-leaning.

3 articles in total. The spectrum counts each outlet once and leaves opinion out. How we measure bias

The New York Times, The Independent and Mother Jones report that a 26-year-old Texas woman who uses the pseudonym Maria Puerto filed suit in state court on Tuesday against Kristan Mercer Hawkins, president of Students for Life, and three staff members. The suit is brought under House Bill 7, a Texas law that allows private citizens to sue anyone who mails, delivers, prescribes or provides abortion pills to or within Texas. According to The Independent, the law sets statutory damages starting at $100,000 per violation, and the suit seeks nearly $460,000. The suit stems from a March Instagram post by Hawkins taken outside Space Center Houston. The plaintiff alleges that the defendants illegally ordered abortion pills during an undercover operation. Mother Jones says two of its videographers and a reporter watched the order being placed.

Headline and summary written by Mantle’s AI from the coverage below, under published rules. How this works

What happened

Key points

Each point shows who reports it, from Far Left to Far Right.

  1. A 26-year-old Texas woman who uses the pseudonym Maria Puerto filed suit in state court on Tuesday.

    One side only: the leftReported byFar Left1Left2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    Mother Jones
    Left
    The New York Times, The Independent

  2. The suit names Kristan Mercer Hawkins, president of Students for Life, and three staff members as defendants.

    One side only: the leftReported byFar Left1Left2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    Mother Jones
    Left
    The New York Times, The Independent

  3. The plaintiff alleges the defendants illegally ordered abortion pills during an undercover operation in Houston.

    One side only: the leftReported byFar Left1Left1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    Mother Jones
    Left
    The Independent

  4. The suit is brought under House Bill 7, a Texas law that lets private citizens sue anyone who mails, delivers, prescribes or provides abortion pills to or within Texas.

    One side only: the leftReported byFar Left1Left1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    Mother Jones
    Left
    The Independent

  5. The law sets statutory damages starting at $100,000 per violation, and the suit seeks nearly $460,000.

    One outletThe Independent· Left

  6. The suit stems from a March Instagram post by Hawkins showing her outside Space Center Houston with the caption “Guess what we are doing? Ordering abortion pills undercover?”

    One side only: the leftReported byFar Left1Left2See the outletsHide the outlets
    Far Left
    Mother Jones
    Left
    The New York Times, The Independent

How each side tells it

Compare views

All three outlets report a lawsuit under Texas’s abortion-pill law against Students for Life’s president and staff over a March Instagram post, and the headlines frame the defendants as backers of a law now used against them, with Mother Jones calling the post a stunt.

  • the left

    3 outlets

    Headlines lead with the lawsuit and the defendants’ own role in the law, with The Independent stressing the boast and Mother Jones, the far-left outlet, calling the event a stunt.

    Members of Group That Pushed Abortion Pill Law Are Being Sued Under It
    The New York TimesLeftAll left-leaning headlines

  • the center

    No coverage yet

    No center outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

  • the right

    No coverage yet

    No right-leaning outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

The words they chose

Language to notice

Words that carry a judgement beyond the facts. Tap a highlighted word anywhere on the page to see why.

  • Left2

    appeared to boastAbortion-Pill Stunt

  • Center

    Has not covered this story.

  • Right

    Has not covered this story.

In the outlets’ own words

  • Loaded verb

    appeared to boastMore neutral: posted

    The word boast assigns the defendants an intent to brag that the post itself does not state.

    Supporters who pushed for Texas abortion law appeared to boast about ordering pills.

    Used byThe Independent (Left)

  • Sensational language

    Abortion-Pill StuntMore neutral: undercover order of abortion pills

    Calling the event a stunt is a judgement about the purpose of the act rather than a description of what was done.

    Texas Woman Sues Kristan Hawkins Over Abortion-Pill Stunt

    Used byMother Jones (Far Left)

See the full language guide

See for yourself

Side by side

What each side leads with and what it leaves out. Open a side to read its headlines.

From the left

3 outlets

Leads with

  • lawsuit against Students for Life staff
  • defendants backed the law they are sued under
  • Instagram post as an apparent boast
  • abortion-pill order as a stunt
See the 3 headlines from the leftHide the headlines
  • Mother JonesFar Left

    Texas Woman Sues Kristan Hawkins Over Sensational language“Abortion-Pill Stunt”Calling the event a stunt is a judgement about the purpose of the act rather than a description of what was done.More neutral: undercover order of abortion pillsDisagree with this highlight?

    In March, two Mother Jones videographers and I stood outside the Space Center Houston and watched Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life, order abortion pills online. …

    Read at Mother Jones (opens in a new tab)
  • The IndependentLeft

    Supporters who pushed for Texas abortion law Loaded verb“appeared to boast”The word boast assigns the defendants an intent to brag that the post itself does not state.More neutral: postedDisagree with this highlight? about ordering pills. Now they’re getting sued under their law

    The lawsuit seeks nearly $460,000 from the defendants — a figure representing the estimated average cost of raising two children to adulthood in Texas

    Read at The Independent (opens in a new tab)
  • The New York TimesLeft

    Members of Group That Pushed Abortion Pill Law Are Being Sued Under It

    A Texas mother is suing the president of Students for Life of America and others in the group over an Instagram post that appeared to boast about ordering abortion pills in Houston.

    Read at The New York Times (opens in a new tab)

From the center

0 outlets

No center outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

From the right

0 outlets

No right-leaning outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

Articles you open from here build My Mix, a private picture of how your reading spreads across the spectrum, kept on this device. What is My Mix?

The left is Far Left and Left together. The right is Right and Far Right together. Every outlet keeps its own five-point rating.

Who reported it when

How the coverage built up

  • Left

    First to report

    The New York Times, Oct 13, 10:50 AM EDT

  • Center

    No report yet

    From the outlets Mantle follows

  • Right

    No report yet

    From the outlets Mantle follows

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. The New York TimesLeftOct 13, 10:50 AM EDT
  2. The IndependentLeftOct 13, 2:11 PM EDT
  3. Mother JonesFar LeftOct 13, 6:22 PM EDT

Times are the ones the outlets published in their own feeds, in Eastern time. Opinion is left out.

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