Mario Villegas carries the ultrasound of the child a Phoenix abortion facility took from him everywhere he goes.
In a Gila County courtroom, he spent six years making that facility answer for it.
Then Arizona's own courts turned around and gutted the law that made his win possible.
Mario Villegas Lost His Unborn Child to the Abortion Pill
In July 2018, Villegas's wife walked into Camelback Family Planning in Phoenix, pregnant with the couple's child.
The baby already had a detectable heartbeat.
Facility owner Gabrielle Goodrick handed her the two-drug abortion pill regimen, mifepristone and misoprostol, and the child was gone.
Villegas was devastated.
He told the court he could not eat, could not function, and could not focus.
He later filed for divorce because he could not get past the abortion.
Arizona's Informed Consent Law Let a Father Sue the Abortion Clinic
In 2011, Arizona passed a little-known law that let a married father sue when an abortion was performed without the mother's full informed consent.
That law required abortion facilities to give women real information at least 24 hours before an abortion – the medical risks, the alternatives, and the physical development of the unborn child.
According to court documents, Camelback skipped much of it.
Instead of a real conversation, staff recited a printed script that was missing key disclosures and got others wrong, and they encouraged her to consent before she heard any of it.
Villegas's attorney said the facility gave his wife only what she wanted to hear.
Judge Bryan B. Chambers agreed the law was broken.
He wrote that the abortion "should not have been performed" and "was essentially an illegal abortion."
Expert testimony convinced the court that, more likely than not, the baby would have been carried to term and born alive.
Grieving Father Wins More Than $128,000 in Abortion Lawsuit
In July 2026, Chambers awarded Villegas $5,000 in statutory damages and $62,500 for his psychological, emotional, and physical injuries.
In September 2026, the court added $58,905 in attorney fees and $2,384.70 in costs.
The defendants – Camelback Family Planning, Goodrick, and physician Kristen Livingston – are on the hook for all of it.
The defense argued Villegas's wife would have aborted anyway.
Chambers threw that out, ruling it was impossible to know what she would have done if the facility had followed the law.
"Another man should never feel the pain that I feel," he told the court.
The Lawyering Project, the pro-abortion legal group that defended the facility, had warned the case could set a "dangerous precedent" on embryonic personhood.
They were right to be worried.
Baby Roe Lost but Baby Wabbington Won a Wrongful Death Settlement
In 2019, 19-year-old Alabama father Ryan Magers sued on behalf of his aborted child, "Baby Roe," after his then-girlfriend took the abortion pill at six weeks.
Madison County Circuit Judge Chris Comer tossed the case, citing state and federal abortion law.
Roe v. Wade was still standing.
Seven years later, the courtroom doors are opening.
In September 2026, the estate of Baby Wabbington, a 26-week-old child aborted in New Mexico, won a $200,000 settlement in its case against abortionist Curtis Boyd and two other defendants.
Attorney Mike Seibel, who represented that estate, reviewed the Villegas ruling for Live Action News.
He argued that courts cannot award damages for a relationship with a non-person, so "this case helps build a compelling case for personhood."
Kris Mayes Refused to Defend Arizona's Abortion Waiting Period
On Feb. 6, 2026, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Gregory Como struck down Arizona's 24-hour waiting period and its required ultrasound, citing the Proposition 139 abortion amendment voters passed in 2024.
That is the same 24-hour rule Camelback broke when it ended Baby Villegas's life.
Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes declined to defend the laws and praised the ruling.
Pro-life lawmakers stepped in to fight for them instead.
"Our pro-life legislators have been more than willing to stand up in this moment," said Katarina White of Arizona Right to Life.
Villegas's attorney, J. Stanley Martineau, told the court that "awarding damages plus fees for a wrongful abortion" keeps abortion practitioners honest.
Every protection Mayes lets fall makes that job harder for the next grieving father.
Senate President Warren Petersen is fighting the Como ruling on appeal.
He should put Mario Villegas's story on the first page of that brief and fight until Arizona fathers get their voice back.
Sources:
- Carole Novielli, "Court awards grieving father damages after losing child to abortion," Live Action News, Oct. 2026.
- Bridget Sielicki, "Arizona judge strikes down three pro-life laws," Live Action News, Feb. 9, 2026.
- Steven Ertelt, "Aborted Baby Wins Settlement in Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Abortionist," LifeNews, Sept. 24, 2026.
- Caleb Parke, "Alabama judge allows teen to sue on behalf of aborted fetus," Fox News, March 6, 2019.
- Gila County Superior Court, Trial Judgment, Villegas v. Camelback Family Planning, July 23, 2026.
- Kim Chandler, "Judge dismisses wrongful death lawsuit over abortion," Associated Press via The Washington Times, Sept. 3, 2019.
- "Mayes joins ACLU challenge to Arizona law limiting abortion providers," KAWC, May 13, 2026.
