DA says murder charge in abortion case will be dropped

A Texas district attorney said Sunday that he will ask a judge to dismiss a murder charge against a woman over a self-induced abortion.

Lizelle Herrera was arrested Thursday in Rio Grande City, a community of about 14,000 people along the Mexico border, after a Starr County grand jury indicted her on March 30 for murder for allegedly causing “the death of an individual … by self-induced abortion.”

District Attorney Gocha Allen Ramirez said Sunday that his office would move to dismiss the charge on Monday.

“In reviewing this case, it is clear that Ms. Herrera cannot and should not be prosecuted for the allegation against her,” Ramirez said in a statement.

Ramirez went on to say, “It is my hope that with the dismissal of this case it is made clear that Ms. Herrera did not commit a criminal act under the laws of the State of Texas.“

Authorities haven’t released details about what Herrera allegedly did, and Ramirez didn’t immediately respond to an email Sunday seeking further information about the case. From his statement Sunday and a previous statement put out by a Starr County Sheriff ’s Office official, it wasn’t clear if Herrera was accused of giving herself an abortion or assisting in someone else’s self-induced abortion.

A leading Texas anti-abortion group said it understood the decision, saying that state law provides only civil remedies, not criminal ones.

Texas law would exempt Herrera from a criminal homicide charge for aborting her own pregnancy, University of Texas law professor Stephen Vladeck said.

“(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.