The district attorney for Starr County, Texas, dismissed this Sunday the murder charges against a Hispanic woman who was arrested after allegedly having a ‘self-induced’ abortion.
Lizelle Herrera, aged 39, was arrested Thursday after requesting medical treatment after suffering an abortion. The authorities alleged that the young woman violated the new restrictive abortion law in the state “knowingly the death of a person by induced abortion.” His bail had been set at $500,000 dollars.
However, Gocha Allen Ramírez, who serves as Starr County District Attorney, issued a statement this Sunday in which he immediately dismissed the charges , adding that the incident was not a criminal matter.
“It is clear to me that the events that led to this accusation have affected Ms. Herrera and her family,” Ramírez said. “The issues surrounding this issue are clearly contentious; however, under Texas law and the facts presented, it is not a criminal matter.”
The controversial Texas Heartbeat Law, which was recently passed, prohibits abortions after that a fetal heartbeat is detected, which usually occurs around six weeks. The measure has been criticized because in that period of time most women do not know they are pregnant and does not raise exceptions for incest or rape.
The implications of Herrera’s arrest were noted . La Frontera Fund, a Texas abortion assistance fund, staged a protest in front of the Starr County jail on Saturday morning to demand the release of the Hispanic woman.
“This arrest is inhumane. We demand the immediate release of Lizelle Herrera,” Rockie González, founder and president of the board of directors of the Frontera Fund told KSTX. “The allegation is that she was in the hospital and had a miscarriage and disclosed certain information to hospital staff, who then reported it to the police.”
González, who at the time of the statements acknowledged that the details related with the arrest were still preliminary, he took the opportunity to criticize the Heartbeat Law, which was approved on September 1, 550.
“This is a developing story and we still do not know all the details surrounding this tragic event, what we do know is that criminalizing the choices of pregnant people or the results of pregnancy, what the state has done of Texas, it takes away people’s autonomy over themselves and leaves them without safe options when they decide not to be parents,” said González.
In the same way, González argued that the bill represents the The nation’s most restrictive abortion ban, banning the procedure before many women know they are pregnant.
“We want people to know that this type of legislation affects low-income communities of color more when state legislators impose restrictions on our reproductive rights,” González said in the interview with KSTX.
With information from Daily Mail