What Law Was Lizelle Herrera Actually Charged Under? — My Interview With MSNBC

For more stories from the Rio Grande Valley from Pablo De La Rosa, you can can check out his Linktree here.

Update 4/12/22, 12PM: Lizelle Herrera’s indictment and murder charge will be dismissed by the District Attorney in Starr County.

Lizelle Herrera was indicted in Starr County for what the district attorney called a “self-induced abortion.” She was charged with murder and jailed under a $500,000 bond. Herrera has since been released.

However, questions remain about how or why Herrera was charged in the first place. The murder charge has not been dropped and abortion rights advocacy groups have said they will continue to support Herrera with the family’s consent. Herrera has secured legal counsel.

I had a chance to speak with Katie Phang on MSNBC this morning to review some of what we do know so far.

You can watch the segment below:

While abortions are federally legal, Texas’ SB8 bill is actually a law that provides for statutory damages of $10,000 for individuals who sue a person that has had an abortion — not a criminal charge.

SB8 has come up in discussions on this case as abortion rights activists have pointed to the fear and anxiety that this law has created over the past year.

We know that thousands have traveled outside the state to get abortions. And we know that in low-income communities where healthcare resources may already be limited, individuals can find themselves in a situation where there is no completely safe way to seek an abortion.

However, we do not currently know enough about the events that lead up to Herrera’s arrest to confirm if this dynamic played a part in this case.

Over the weekend since the arrest, abortion rights advocacy groups, supporters, and even some legal experts have also pointed to a part of the Texas penal code that states the Texas murder statute “does not apply to the death of an unborn child.”

Stephen Vladeck, the Charles Alan Wright Chair in Federal Courts at the University of Texas School of Law tweeted this weekend about the passage in the Texas penal code that abortion rights advocates say creates more questions about Herrera’s charges.

So what was Herrera actually arrested for?

We don’t yet have a full account of what happened at that Starr County hospital, what medical staff may or may not have communicated to law enforcement, or what the Starr County District Attorney presented to the grand jury who indicted Herrera.

These are the details we need in order to answer this and many other questions surrounding Herrera’s case as it moves forward.