A 26-year-old woman named Lizelle Herrera was arrested on Thursday by the Starr County Sheriff’s Office and charged with murder for allegedly performing a “self-induced abortion.” A spokesperson for the office told reporters she was arrested for “intentionally and knowingly cause the death of an individual by self-induced abortion.”
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The charge itself was enough to call attention to Herrera’s plight, but she was additionally given a $500,000 bond for her release. She has since received legal counsel, and activist groups are working to raise money to cover her legal fees. A Texas district attorney Named Gocha Allen Ramirez announced that he would be filing a motion to dismiss the indictment, NBC News reports.
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“In reviewing applicable Texas law, it is clear that Ms. Herrera cannot and should not be prosecuted for the allegation against her,” said Ramirez. He has spoken with Herrera’s lawyer, Calixtro Villarreal, and says the motion will be filed on April 11th.
“Prosecutorial discretion rests with the District Attorney’s office, and in the State of Texas a prosecutor’s oath is to do justice,” Ramirez said. “Following that oath, the only correct outcome to this matter is to immediately dismiss the indictment against Ms. Herrera.”
Despite this insistence, Ramirez didn’t go so far as to blame the police who instigated the investigation and followed through on an arrest.
“In reviewing this case, it is clear that the Starr County Sheriff’s Department did their duty in investigating the incident brought to their attention by the reporting hospital,” he said. “To ignore the incident would have been a dereliction of their duty.”
There’s a woman being held on $500k bail, facing ‘murder charges’ for an ‘illegal abortion’ in Texas right now. Let that sink in…
— Hoodlum
(@NotHoodlum) April 8, 2022
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Now that the DA is dismissing charges against Lizelle Herrera, I hope she files a civil suit against the nurse who turned her in.
— 𝐁𝐞𝐤𝐬
(@antifaoperative) April 10, 2022
Texas taxpayer dollars went into absurdly charging Lizelle Herrera with murder for having an abortion, only to be dismissed. Greg Abbott is too expensive.
— Kate
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Lizelle Herrera, a 26-year-old woman, has been charged with murder in Texas after authorities said she caused “the death of an individual by self-induced abortion.” She was arrested Thursday and remains jailed on a $500,000 bond.
That’s a special fucking kind of terrorism.—
Weegie
(@onefussyone) April 10, 2022
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There are not many details on whether or not Herrera actually did induce an abortion on herself or if she is accused of seeking medical assistance. Texas passed a law late last year, SB8, which bans abortions as early as six weeks, which is often before people are even aware they are pregnant. They also deputized ordinary citizens with the ability to accuse doctors and any person they believe helped someone in seeking an abortion. The accusers can be awarded up to $10,000 for a successful lawsuit.
*First Published: April 11, 2022, 5:55 am
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