The Texas Republican who was the primary author of the state's Human Life Protection Act has admitted to a secret affair after a woman who says she had a 17-year relationship with him accused him of quietly paying for abortions.
State Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, a Southlake Republican, admitted to 'selfishly' having an affair 'years ago' but denied the more serious claim that he funded abortions.
The allegations came from Alex Grace, a former exotic dancer, three days after Capriglione announced he would not seek re-election. He has since threatened legal action over what he described as defamatory claims.
Conservative Site Publishes Interview
The claims first surfaced when the conservative news site Current Revolt published an interview with Grace, who alleges the pair's relationship began in 2004. Grace, then aged 18, says the relationship lasted 17 years.
In a 25-minute video interview released in July 2025, Grace alleged Capriglione paid her for 'meetups' and 'funded several abortions for his own personal gain'. She would not elaborate on the alleged terminations themselves, saying people would 'have to go with my word'.
Grace also described a years-long pattern of covert payments, including one instance in which she was told to collect cash left near a dumpster behind a branch of Chuck E. Cheese.
She told interviewers she had once believed in Capriglione's professed values but grew disillusioned as he rose through Texas politics, having been elected to the state House in 2012. She says a 2019 or 2020 phone call, during which she confronted him over his political record, ended their contact for good.
🚨 Republican Giovanni Capriglione, who wrote Texas’s abortion ban, has a mistress who alleges he paid for her abortions. pic.twitter.com/qw74rcnvXd
— GOP Ls (@GOP__Ls) September 19, 2026
Lawmaker Admits Affair and Denies Funding Abortions
Capriglione responded within days, issuing a lengthy statement that confirmed part of Grace's account while rejecting the rest outright. 'Years ago, I selfishly had an affair,' he wrote. 'I'm not proud of this.'
He added that his wife and family had forgiven him and that their marriage had since recovered. Capriglione did not publicly confirm that the affair was with Grace.
On the abortion-funding claim, his denial was unambiguous. 'The rest is categorically false and easily disproven,' his statement read, and he separately insisted, 'I have never, nor would I ever, pay for an abortion.'
Capriglione framed the allegations as retaliation for his work exposing 'the wealthy, the powerful, the corporate elites, and the Austin insiders', pointing to a hearing before the state's DOGE committee.
At that hearing, Superior HealthPlan had acknowledged using private investigators to conduct surveillance and gather information on lawmakers, journalists and other Texans.
Capriglione did not name Grace directly in his statement but said he intended to pursue 'legal remedies' over what he called defamation, invoking the Fox News-Dominion Voting Systems case as a point of comparison.
The Law at the Centre of the Controversy
Capriglione was the primary author of the Human Life Protection Act of 2021, which was designed to prohibit abortion in Texas if the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
The law took effect after the Supreme Court's 2022 decision overturning Roe and includes criminal and civil penalties, with specified exceptions.
That record is precisely what gives the allegations their political charge. A lawmaker who played a leading role in legislation restricting abortion access is accused, by a woman who says she knew him intimately for nearly two decades, of privately funding abortions.
Capriglione denies the allegation, and Grace has not provided further details about the alleged abortions.
Political Fallout and Legal Threats
Capriglione had already announced that he would not seek re-election as the Southlake representative and chairman of the Texas DOGE committee. The retirement announcement and the affair allegations landed within days of each other, but the available reporting does not establish that the allegations prompted his decision.
The abortion-funding allegation remains unsubstantiated in the available reporting, while Capriglione has categorically denied it. What is not in dispute, by his own admission, is that he had an affair years ago, while the circumstances and duration of the relationship alleged by Grace have not been independently established.
