Charges being dropped against Texas woman arrested for ‘illegal abortion’ in Rio Grande Valley
‘The only correct outcome to this matter is to immediately dismiss the indictment against Ms. Herrera,’ District Attorney Gocha Allen Ramirez said in a statement Sunday.
By From Wire Reports
9:58 AM on Apr 10, 2022
RIO GRANDE CITY — Charges will be dropped against a woman who had been arrested and jailed in Texas on a murder charge stemming from what local authorities say was a “self-induced abortion,” prosecutors said Sunday.
“The issues surrounding this matter are clearly contentious, however based on Texas law and the facts presented, it is not a criminal matter,” District Attorney Gocha Allen Ramirez said in a statement.
Ramirez will ask a judge on Monday to dismiss the murder indictment against a woman who allegedly gave herself an abortion. Lizelle Herrera was arrested Thursday in Rio Grande City after a Starr County grand jury indicted her on March 30 for murder for causing the death of a fetus or embryo through a self-induced abortion.
The Starr County sheriff’s office was only doing its job in making the arrest, said Ramirez, who represents Starr, Jim Hogg and Duval counties.
“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. To ignore the incident would have been a dereliction of their duty,” he said. “Prosecutorial discretion rests with the District Attorney’s office, and in the State of Texas a prosecutor’s oath is to do justice. Following that oath, the only correct outcome to this matter is to immediately dismiss the indictment against Ms. Herrera.”
Added Ramirez: “... It is clear to me that the events leading up to this indictment have taken a toll on Ms. Herrera and her family. To ignore this fact would be shortsighted.”
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https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2022/04/10/texas-woman-facing-murder-charge-for-illegal-abortion-released-from-jail-in-rio-grande-valley/
