Eric Gay/AP
- KVEO reported that Texas police arrested a 26-year-old woman for allegedly performing a self-induced abortion.
- A Texas law, called SB 8, prohibits anyone from obtaining an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy.
- “This arrest is inhumane,” pro-choice advocates said following reports of the arrest.
A woman in Texas was arrested and charged with murder after performing a self-induced abortion, according to local police.
The Starr County Sheriff’s Office arrested 26-year-old Lizelle Herrera on Thursday after she “intentionally and knowingly cause the death of an individual by self-induced abortion,” a police spokesperson told KVEO, a local news affiliate of both NBC and CBS.
Herrera’s arrest is a result of a restrictive abortion law passed last year in Texas. The law, called SB 8, prohibits anyone from obtaining an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. That’s a point at which most people do not yet know they are pregnant.
Individuals, including doctors, who violate the law can be sued in court, which would likely result in a minimum of $10,000 in statutory damages per abortion.
Abortion clinics in Texas have tried to block the law in court, arguing it would prohibit care for “at least 85% of Texas abortion patients.”
Herrera is being held in custody at the sheriff’s office on a $500,000 bond, according to KVEO.
La Frontera Fund, an abortion assistance group based in the Rio Grande Valley area, planned a protest Saturday outside the jail where Herrera is being held.
“This arrest is inhumane. We are demanding the immediate release of Lizelle Herrera.’ said 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.”
The Starr County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment asking for more information on the incident.
“This is a developing story and we don’t yet know all the details surrounding this tragic event,” Gonzalez told Texas Public Radio.
“What we do know is that criminalizing pregnant people’s choices or pregnancy outcomes, which the state of Texas has done, takes away people’s autonomy over their own bodies, and leaves them with no safe options when they choose not to become a parent.”
When SB 8 was introduced, abortion clinics in states neighboring Texas told Insider they were flooded with requests for reproductive healthcare from people who could no longer acquire it in Texas.
Powered by WPeMatico
