A Texas district attorney will dismiss a murder charge that was filed against a 26-year-old woman in connection with a “self-induced abortion,” which law enforcement called “the death of an individual.”
Starr County District Attorney Gocha Allen Ramirez reviewed the case and concluded that the woman cannot and should not be prosecuted for this allegation, and said that he hoped the dismissal of the case would make it clear that the woman did not commit a criminal act under Texan laws.
The woman was initially indicted on a murder charge, which claimed she intentionally and knowingly “caused the death of an individual” by self-induced abortion. It is unclear whether the woman had an abortion herself, or had assisted in someone else’s abortion.
Ramirez is to file the dismissal today, and in his statement, stressed that the sheriff’s office had acted according to its responsibilities as determined by law.
The district attorney’s statement said that it was clear the Starr County Sheriff’s Department had done their “duty” by investigating the incident, which was reported to them by a hospital.
The woman was arrested at the end of last week and detained on an enormous half a million dollar bond. She was released on Saturday, according to an abortion advocacy organization Frontera Fund, which has taken a strong interest in her case.
News of the arrest caused instant outrage, with abortion-right activists and women’s rights activists condemning it strongly.
Ramirez also said in the statement that it was clear the events leading up to the arrest had taken a toll on both the woman and her family and that to ignore these facts would be shortsighted. He said that while the issues were contentious in Texas, this was not a criminal matter.
Texas has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the United States.
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