State Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, author of Senate Bill 8, speaks about the legislation in August at the Axia Center in Tyler.

A Smith County district judge on Wednesday called a lawsuit in which he is named — and that takes aim at a recently passed bill that would allow private citizens to sue abortion providers — an attempt to silence judges in East Texas and a direct attack on the rule of law.

District Judge Austin Reeve Jackson, of the 114th District Court, is among several officials named as defendants in the lawsuit from Whole Woman’s Health, a women’s reproductive health clinic that provides abortions, in an effort to invalidate the state’s Senate Bill 8.

The law, authored by state Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, will prohibit abortions after six weeks into a woman’s pregnancy. The law, which is set to go into effect on Sept. 1, allows people to sue a physician who performs an abortion. The winner of this type of lawsuit could be awarded no less than $10,000 in statutory damages, according to the text of the bill.

In addition to Jackson, the lawsuit was also filed against Smith County District Clerk Penny Clarkston and Mark Lee Dickson, the director of Right to Life East Texas, among others.

The class-action suit filed July 13 in an Austin-based federal court seeks to stop officials like Jackson and Clarkston from processing potential abortion-related lawsuits against providers. The lawsuit also seeks to declare that the bill violates the First and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.

During a news conference at the Axia Center in Tyler, Jackson said he was selected by Whole Woman’s Health because of his commitment to the rule of law and biblical values. He said the lawsuit comes from “out-of-county, out-of-state, out-of-touch groups.”

“The left is so used to the idea of having an activist judge that they believe any judge can be bought, bullied or beaten into submission or resignation,” Jackson said. “Make no mistake this lawsuit is a direct attack by far-left groups on the rule of law and the right of pro-life communities to elect people who share their values. This is cancel culture at its finest.”

He said he’s committed to seeing this “frivolous” lawsuit dismissed, and seeing “attempts to throw elected Christians out of office defeated (and) the vote of pro-life Texans defended.”

Shane McGuire, Jackson’s attorney, said at the news conference a request to dismiss the lawsuit would soon be filed.

“It’s already been drafted. I was editing it as late as 11 o’clock last night,” McGuire said. “I’m sure ultimately the case against Judge Jackson is going to be dismissed if the rules of law are followed.”

A sitting judge cannot be sued in the state of Texas, McGuire said.

“This is open season on judges in Texas if this lawsuit is allowed to go forward,” McGuire said. “They could have sued anybody. I said, ‘Reeve, I’ve known you a long time, I know exactly why they picked you. They picked you because they know that you’re a man of character and integrity and a man of God. They picked you because they knew that you would engage in the fight.’”

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit include clergy, physicians and clinics. In addition to Whole Woman’s Health, they are represented by Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights, among others, who say the law could saddle abortion providers with lawsuits that consume their time and resources and ultimately force them to shut down.

Texas “has put a bounty on the head of anyone who so much as gives a patient money for an abortion after six weeks,” Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement at the time the lawsuit was filed.

Opponents of the law also say its enforcement scheme makes it particularly difficult to challenge in court. In other states, six-week abortion bans are enforced by government officials, allowing plaintiffs to sue state officials responsible for enforcing the law.

Hughes said during the conference that the lawsuit targeting his bill is radical and that he’s honored to be its author.

“It shows how desperate that some of these groups are to continue doing illegal abortions,” Hughes said. “Suing Judge Jackson, suing every judge in Texas — that’s a radical move. We believe the law is clear on this, and the judicial process is going to run its course. We believe that this law will be upheld.”

Hughes said his bill gives citizens the ability to sue abortion providers because many district attorneys in the state said publicly they would not enforce a “heartbeat bill” if passed.

“We have a strong constitutional district attorney (in Smith County),” Hughes said. “These are district attorneys who are sworn to enforce the law saying we will not enforce a heartbeat bill. Senate Bill 8 does not require any action by the state, district attorney or government advocate. It’s driven by private individuals who want to stand up for the right to life. The mother is not affected by the heartbeat law. This is about doctors performing illegal abortions.”

Jackson said every Texan should be concerned about this litigation.

“If the judge in Austin files the rule of law and does what the law requires of him, he will dismiss this case in its entirety against all defendants,” Jackson said. “This lawsuit should terrify every Texan regardless of their political persuasion because what it is saying is that outside groups have targeted us and targeted our way of life. If they can’t win in the legislature, they’re going to try to win via lawsuit. The right to speech is on the line (and) the right to elect their officials and choose what they value is on the line.”

Jackson added he’s grateful for the support he’s received regarding the lawsuit from Hughes along with East Texans as a whole.

“With the support of my community, I am here to say that I will not be scared by the vicious attacks and implicit threats of radical organizations,” he said. “As for me and my house, we will continue to serve the Lord.”

Having to deal with this lawsuit has interrupted the time he could be spending having hearings and on other court matters, Jackson said.

“Every minute that I have to spend giving attention to this suit is a minute I take away from doing the business of East Texas,” he said. “That is a threat to the citizens. It is an affront to the citizens of this community. They ought to be furious that a judge down in Austin has told them that their time and their cases are not as valuable as a frivolous suit down in Austin.”