(Houston) A prosecutor in Texas on Monday dropped charges against a young woman charged with murder a few days earlier for having an abortion, sparking a national mobilization around her case.
Posted at 6:07 p.m.
Lizelle Herrera, 26, was arrested on April 7, accused of having “knowingly caused the death of a person by his own abortion”, according to authorities in a Texas county on the border with Mexico.
She was released only after posting $500,000 bail. On Monday, a prosecutor finally dropped the charges against him, according to a court document seen by AFP.
“In reviewing the current law in Texas, it is clear that Mr.me Herrera cannot and should not be prosecuted for the facts with which he is charged, ”said Gocha Allen Ramirez in a press release.
The prosecutor, however, assured that the local authorities had been right to arrest him “after a report from the hospital”, because “ignoring the facts would have been a breach of their duty”.
It is not clear whether the law passed in September 2021 in Texas prohibiting abortions after six weeks of pregnancy served as the basis for the initial indictment.
But this case testifies to the great sensitivity surrounding abortion in the United States, at a time when proposals for abortion laws – restrictive or protective – are sweeping through hundreds of state legislatures in anticipation of a decision by the Supreme Court likely to upset the legal framework in force for nearly 50 years in the country.
“We stand with Lizelle and all people in Texas seeking care, despite systemic barriers and obstacles,” said Planned Parenthood, which operates multiple abortion clinics in every state. -United.