- A Texas woman was arrested on Thursday for allegedly performing a self-induced abortion.
- Lizelle Herrera, 26, was charged with murder.
- On Sunday, a Texas District Attorney announced that they were dropping the charges against her.
A Texas District Attorney is dropping murder charges against a woman who was arrested and charged for allegedly having a self-induced abortion.
District Attorney Gocha Allen Ramirez announced on Sunday that he's dropping the charges against 26-year-old Lizelle Herrera.
"In reviewing applicable Texas law, it is clear that Ms. Herrera cannot and should not be prosecuted for the allegation against her," Ramirez said in a statement.
Herrera was arrested on Thursday by the Starr County Sheriff's Office, according to a statement from sheriff's Maj. Carlos Delgado.
"Herrera was arrested and served with an indictment on the charge of Murder after Herrera did then and there intentionally and knowingly cause the death of an individual by self-induced abortion," Delgado said.
Texas last year imposed SB 8, a law that prohibits anyone from obtaining an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy.
Ramirez said the 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," Ramirez wrote. "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."
On Saturday, La Frontera Fund, an abortion assistance group based in the Rio Grande Valley area, planned a rally outside the jail where Herrera was being held on a $500,000 bond.
"This arrest is inhumane. We are demanding the immediate release of Lizelle Herrera," Frontera Fund founder Rockie Gonzalez said, according to Texas Public Radio. "What is alleged is that she was in the hospital and had a miscarriage and divulged some information to hospital staff, who then reported her to the police."
Ramirez added that it would be "shortsighted" to not acknowledge that what happened leading up to the indictment "took a toll" on Herrera and her family.
"The issues surrounding this matter are clearly contentious, however, based on Texas law and the facts presented, it is not a criminal matter," he said.