Texas woman jailed for abortion murder, judge rules her lawsuit can proceed

MCALLEN, Texas (AP) — A Texas woman jailed and charged with murder for performing a self-induced abortion in 2022 can proceed with her lawsuit against a local sheriff and prosecutor, a federal judge ruled Wednesday in a case that sparked outrage across the country before the charges were quickly dropped.

U.S. District Judge Drew B. Tipton rejected motions by prosecutors and the sheriff to dismiss the lawsuit at a hearing in the border city of McAllen. Lizelle Gonzalez, who spent two nights in jail on the murder charge and is seeking $1 million in damages in her lawsuit, did not attend the hearing.

Texas has one of the strictest abortion laws in the country, banning abortion with few exceptions, but under Texas law, women seeking abortions cannot be criminally charged.

Starr County District Attorney Gocha Ramirez and the other defendants argued that their stance exempted them from civil lawsuits.

Defense attorney Rick Navarro argued at the hearing that this was “at best a case of negligence.” Ramirez previously told The Associated Press that he “made a mistake” in filing the charges.

Tipton asked Gonzalez’s attorneys if they could prove prosecutors knew about the exception.

“What we want to make clear is that negligence does not explain this oversight. It is the duty and responsibility of prosecutors to understand the elements of the statute they are alleging,” said David Donatti, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas who is representing Gonzalez.

In 2022, Gonzalez was charged for taking misoprostol when she was 19 weeks pregnant. She was treated at a Texas hospital, where doctors later performed a cesarean section on her and delivered a stillborn baby after detecting that the fetus had no heartbeat.

Her lawsuit, filed in March, also named the county that oversees the small hospital where Gonzalez was treated, claiming hospital staff violated patients’ privacy rights when reporting abortions. An amended complaint said the sheriff’s office interviewed Gonzalez at the direction of prosecutors and subsequently arrested her.

The charges were dropped days after the woman was arrested, and in February, Ramirez agreed to pay a $1,250 fine under a settlement with the State Bar of Texas. Ramirez also agreed to suspend his law license for 12 months.

Wednesday’s ruling will allow that case to move forward.