A week after being arrested for allegedly causing “the death of an individual by self-induced abortion,” a 26-year old woman in Texas has had her charges dismissed by the state’s district attorney.
Lizelle Herrera was arrested last week on a murder charge related to a self-induced abortion and remained in custody on Saturday on a $500,000 bond in the Starr County jail in Rio Grande City.
Overnight, Starr County District Attorney Gocha Allen Ramirez said “it is clear that Ms. Herrera cannot and should not be prosecuted for the allegation against her” under Texas law.
“Although with this dismissal Ms. Herrera will not face prosecution for this incident, it is clear to me that the events leading up to this indictment have taken a toll on Ms. Herrera and her family,” Ramirez said in his statement.
“To ignore this fact would be shortsighted. The issues surrounding this matter are clearly contentious, however based on Texas law and the facts presented, it is not a criminal matter.”
It remains unclear whether the 26-year old was accused of having an abortion or whether she helped someone else get an abortion — both acts are considered crimes in Texas, which has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the US.
Last year, Texas legislated bans on abortion once embryonic cardiac activity is detected (roughly six weeks) and gives no exceptions for incest or rape.
It also gives citizens the choice to sue an abortion provider who breaches the law, galvanising any citizen to bring a civil suit against an abortion provider or anyone who “aids or abets” the procedure.
Last week, the state’s sheriff, Maj. Carlos Delgado made a statement indicating “Herrera was arrested and served with an indictment on the charge of Murder after Herrera did then and there intentionally and knowingly cause the death of an individual by self-induced abortion.”
Stephen Vladeck, a law professor at the University of Texas, told The Associated Press that Texas law exempted Herrera from a criminal homicide charge for aborting her own pregnancy.
“(Homicide) doesn’t apply to the murder of an unborn child if the conduct charged is ‘conduct committed by the mother of the unborn child,'” Vladeck said.
Some states continue to have laws that criminalise self-induced abortions “and there have been a handful of prosecutions here and there over the years,” according to Vladeck.
“It is murder in Texas to take steps that terminate a foetus, but when a medical provider does it, it can’t be prosecuted.”
Lynn Paltrow, the executive director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women told CBS News that the crime Herrera was charged over was never declared.
“What’s a little mysterious in this case is, what crime has this woman been charged with?” Paltrow said. “There is no statute in Texas that, even on its face, authorises the arrest of a woman for a self-managed abortion.”
Over the weekend, the Rio Grande Valley-based abortion rights group Frontera Fund rallied in Rio Grande City calling for Herrera’s release.
“We don’t yet know all the details surrounding this tragic event,” the founder and board chair of the organisation, Rockie Gonzales said.
“What we do know is that criminalising pregnant people’s choices or pregnancy outcomes, which the state of Texas has done, takes away people’s autonomy over their own bodies, and leaves them with no safe options when they choose not to become a parent.”
The group announced on Twitter that Herrera was released on bail, secured legal counsel and will receive donations from a legal defense and reconciliation fund started by them.
Texas State Director for Policy and Advocacy for the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, Nancy Cárdenas Peña, tweeted:
“Our work continues and it is an understatement to say that community and legal efforts on the ground, virtual actions, and garnering national attention were big in this case. Charges are rightfully dismissed but this should have never happened in the first place!”
In a statement released over the weekend, Peña emphasised the importance of universal abortion access for woman on their own terms.
“Allowing criminal law to be used against people who have ended their own pregnancies serves no reasonable state purpose, but may cause great harm to young people, people with lower incomes, and communities of colour, who are most likely to encounter or be reported to law enforcement,” Peña wrote.