A Texas woman has filed a federal lawsuit against the prosecutors who arrested and jailed her for alleged murder after she attempted a self-induced abortion in January 2022.
Lizelle Gonzalez, whose last name was Herrera at the time, is suing Starr County, District Attorney Gocha Ramirez, and Assistant District Attorney Alexandria Barrera for the now-dropped charges brought against her, according to the lawsuit filed on March 28.
Under Texas law, a mother is exempt from criminal charges in the death of an unborn child.
Ms. Gonzalez had taken misoprostol, one of two drugs used to induce an abortion, at 19 weeks gestation.
On Jan. 7, 2022, after taking the medication, she went to the emergency room, where she received an obstetrical exam. The doctors observed a fetal heartbeat, and she was discharged on Jan. 8. Later that afternoon, she was taken by ambulance to the emergency room with abdominal pain and vaginal bleeding, and a follow-up exam found there was no heartbeat.
A cesarean section was performed to deliver the stillborn baby.
Ms. Gonzalez was charged with murder on March 30, 2022, when the case was presented to a grand jury. She was arrested by the Starr County Sheriff’s Office on April 7 and jailed for two nights before being released.
Attorney Cecilia Garza, who is representing Ms. Gonzalez, said her client was targeted by Starr County officials and wants them held accountable for violating her Fourth and 14th Amendment rights.
Fallout From Prosecution
The lawsuit argues Ms. Gonzalez suffered from the “humiliation of a highly publicized indictment and arrest, which has permanently affected her standing in the community.”Ms. Gonzalez, who had no previous criminal history, was 26 at the time of the incident that landed her name in the national headlines just months before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Her lawyers said the lawsuit is not in response to the legality of abortion; rather, it is based on the violation of her civil rights.
“The legal basis of Ms. Gonzalez’s lawsuit is not her reproductive rights,” Ms. Garza told reporters. “The legal basis of this lawsuit is the unconstitutional violation of her basic rights when she was arrested and charged with a crime that does not exist in the state of Texas.”
“Lizelle Gonzalez made a deeply personal and difficult decision regarding her pregnancy,” she continued. “While there is great debate about whether Ms. Gonzalez should or should not be able to make that decision, there is absolutely no debate that her decision did not violate the laws of the state of Texas and her conduct was not criminal.”
In Texas, prosecutors typically have absolute immunity from liability in civil cases, but not when they are “functioning as the equivalent of a detective rather than as an advocate preparing for trial,” the lawsuit argues.
Ms. Gonzalez claims the prosecutors “intentionally misrepresented evidence to a grand jury” in order to pursue charges against her.
The State Bar of Texas investigated the case and found that Mr. Ramirez had allowed the assistant district attorneys to charge Ms. Gonzalez for “acts clearly not criminal,” according to Courthouse News Service.
The Texas Bar suspended the district attorney from practicing law for one year and fined him $1,250. Mr. Ramirez’s suspension began on April 1.
