RIO GRANDE CITY, Tex. — A district attorney in Texas has filed a motion to dismiss a murder charge from a woman who performed a “self-induced abortion.”
The office of Gocha Allen Ramirez said, “it is clear that Ms. Herrera cannot and should not be prosecuted for the allegation against her.”
Ramirez went on to say, “based on Texas law and the facts presented, it is not a criminal matter.”
The Starr County Sheriff’s Office in South Texas arrested 26-year-old Lizelle Herrera last week after a hospital reported her in January.
An indictment signed in late March said that Herrera caused “the death of an individual J.A.H. by a self-induced abortion.”
Herrera was held in custody on a $500,000 bond.
She was released from custody after an abortion rights advocacy group posted bail on her behalf.
It is not clear under what law Herrera was charged, but University of Texas law professor Stephen Vladeck noted that state law exempts the mother from murder of her unborn child.
