Pro-choice protesters gather in San Antonio earlier this month following the passage of Texas’ restrictive new abortion law. Credit: Jaime Monzon

After charging a woman with murder on allegations that she self-induced an abortion — a legal move that spurred national news coverage — officials with South Texas’ Starr County said Sunday they’re dismissing the case.

Lizelle Herrera was arrested Thursday in Rio Grande City and held in jail for three days on a $500,000 bond, the Associated Press reports. However, Starr County District Attorney Gocha Allen Ramirez issued a statement on Sunday saying he’s dropping the case.

“In reviewing applicable Texas law, it is clear that Ms. Herrera cannot and should not be prosecuted for the allegation against her,” Ramirez said.

“Although with this dismissal Ms. Herrera will not face prosecution for this incident, it is clear to me that the events leading up to this indictment have taken a toll on Ms. Herrera and her family,” he added.

Even so, Ramirez said the Starr County Sheriff’s Department “did their duty” in investigating the incident after it was reported by a hospital.

Legal observers and pro-choice advocates said Texas’ 2021 law banning most abortions didn’t include provisions which would authorize Starr County’s attempt to impose criminal penalties. Indeed, cases where authorities bring charges against women over self-induced abortions are rare and unlikely to yield convictions.

However, they cautioned that the wave of new abortion restrictions being implemented in Republican-controlled states could set the stage for more such arrests.

“States have made it that much harder for women to obtain abortions from medical professionals, leading them to the more dire remedy of doing it themselves,” University of Texas at Austin Law Professor Stephen Vladeck told the New York Times. He added that “these kinds of prosecutions that would have been incredibly unpopular and controversial as recently as 10 or 15 years ago” are now receiving more support.

Rockie Gonzalez, board chair for the Frontera Fund, which provides financial help to low-income women seeking abortion in South Texas, said the case is likely to create trust issues for women seeking medical assistance.

“Low income people of color cannot walk into a hospital and know that they will be able to be honest with their medical providers and give them information that might save their life because they might go to jail for it,” Gonzalez told MSNBC.

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This article appears in Apr 6-19, 2022.

Sanford Nowlin is editor-in-chief of the San Antonio Current. He holds degrees from Trinity University and the University of Texas at San Antonio, and his work has been featured in Salon, Alternet, Creative...