Texas Woman Sues Prosecutor Who Charged Her With Murder After She Had an Abortion

A Texas woman, who faced killing charges for self-administering an abortion and spent two nights in jail, has filed a lawsuit versus prosecutors along the U.S.-Mexico border who started the criminal case, which was later dismissed.

Texas Woman Charged with Murder for Abortion

Lizelle Gonzalez filed the lawsuit in federal court on Thursday, after action was taken versus the district attorney in rural Starr County by the State Bar of Texas in 2022. The charges were brought against Gonzalez under the allegation of "the death of an individual by self-induced abortion."

Despite the abortion regulations in Texas and elsewhere, which exempt women seeking abortion from criminal charges, Gonzalez argues she suffered harm due to her arrest and subsequent media coverage.

The lawsuit asserts that the hospital violated Gonzalez's privacy rights by reporting the abortion to the district attorney's office, leading to an investigation and murder charge against her.

Cecilia Garza, Gonzalez's attorney, stated that prosecutors pursued the indictment despite being aware of the exemption from murder charges for women undergoing abortions under state law.

Starr County District Attorney Gocha Ramirez, who faced disciplinary actions from the State Bar, declined to comment on the lawsuit. Ramirez settled a fine and a probated suspension of his license for 12 months in February as part of an agreement with the State Bar, admitting to making a mistake.

Texas Woman Seeks Legal Claim for Over $1 Million

In 2022, a Texas woman faced arrest and imprisonment for self-induced abortion, with her name and photo swiftly circulating globally. Despite the charges being dropped three days later by the Starr County prosecutor, who later faced disciplinary action, Lizelle Herrera, now Lizelle Gonzalez, claims irreparable damage from the "humiliation" of the widely publicized ordeal.

In a federal lawsuit filed Thursday, Gonzalez is seeking over $1 million from Starr County District Attorney Gocha Allen Ramirez and Assistant District Attorney Alexandria Lynn Barrera.

Although prosecutors commonly enjoy immunity, the lawsuit disagrees they lost this protection by ensuing the case and supposedly misleading the grand jury. Starr County, located in South Texas's Rio Grande Valley, has a population of roughly 65,000.

Gonzalez's accusation happened before Roe v. Wade was reversed and Texas implemented its near-total abortion ban. Despite this, Texas law, both then and now, does not permit murder charges against individuals undergoing abortions. Ramirez conceded this after Gonzalez spent two nights in jail.

The State Bar of Texas investigation found Ramirez attempted to pursue criminal charges for actions not deemed criminal, resulting in a fine and a suspended license for a year. Ramirez declined immediate comment on the lawsuit.

The lawsuit aims to prove Gonzalez's constitutional rights and hold liable those who violated them. Further details disclosed in the lawsuit shed light on the timeline leading to Gonzalez's arrest. Following visits to the Starr County emergency room in January 2022, where Gonzalez was 19 weeks pregnant and purportedly took Cytotec (misoprostol) to induce abortion, hospital employees informed the district attorney's office.

Ramirez's office directly investigated the allegations, presenting them to a grand jury with purportedly false information. Gonzalez's arrest garnered international attention and prompted widespread activism, resulting in her release on bail organized by national advocacy groups.

Ramirez dropped the charges three days later, but the lawsuit claims the media scrutiny persisted, fueled by the politically charged nature of the case.

Gonzalez seeks over $1 million for the adverse effects on her liberty, reputation, emotional well-being, and public perception resulting from the prosecution. No hearing dates have been scheduled.