After reportedly terminating her own pregnancy, a Texas woman was arrested and charged with murder.
Lizelle Herrera, 26, was charged with ‘intentionally and deliberately causing the death of an individual through self-induced abortion,’ according to authorities.
It’s unknown how far along Herrera was in her pregnancy, but Texas has outlawed abortion after the first identification of an embryonic ‘heartbeat,’ which can be discovered as early as six weeks into a pregnancy.
Herrera is being held in the Starr County Jail on a $500,000 bond while officials investigate, according to KVEO.
The Texas Heartbeat Act prohibits abortions after the detection of a fetal heartbeat, with no exclusions for rape or incest.
The unusual enforcement measures of the law were designed to shield it from legal challenges – anyone, other than the woman herself, can bring a case against anyone who assists a woman in obtaining an abortion. A plaintiff in this situation may be entitled to up to $10,000 in damages.
On Saturday morning, the La Frontera Fund, a Texas-based abortion assistance fund, protested outside the Starr County Jail, demanding Herrera’s release.
‘This arrest is inhumane. We are demanding the immediate release of Lizelle Herrera,’ Rockie Gonzalez, founder and board chair of Frontera Fund, told KSTX. ‘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.’
