A Texas woman who was charged with murder after taking an abortion pill can continue her lawsuit against local officials who jailed her for two nights before dropping the charges against her, a federal judge has ruled
Lizelle Gonzalez, then 26, was charged in April 2022 after she took abortion medication at 19 weeks and ultimately delivered a stillborn, according to authorities. The charges were quickly dismissed, but Gonzalez sued the local sheriff and two prosecutors earlier this year, seeking damages of $1 million for being held in jail for three days and becoming the subject of widespread media attention, according to her lawsuit.
Last week, a federal judge rejected efforts by local officials to dismiss the lawsuit. The Starr County district attorney and other officials had claimed they had immunity because they were acting in their professional capacities when they arrested and charged Gonzalez.
U.S. District Judge Drew B. Tipton ruled on July 25 that the lawsuit may procede. Gonzalez's suit also alleges her civil rights rights were violated by being unlawfully arrested and held behind bars.
Her criminal case came several months after Texas passed one of the country's most restrictive abortion bills. It banned abortion after six weeks of pregnancy and allowed private parties to sue anyone for "aiding and abetting" the medical procedure.
According to the law, a mother cannot be charged for murder in the death of her own fetus.
Starr County District AttorneyGocha Allen Ramirez had previously told The Associated Press that he made a "mistake" in charging the woman with murder.
In March, Ramirez agreed to pay a $1,250 fine and to have his law license held in probated suspension for a year in a settlement with the State Bar of Texas, which investigate d the Gonzalez criminal case. The agency determined Ramirez wrongly pursued murder charges "against an individual for acts clearly not criminal pursuant to Texas" law, the state bar said.
Ramirez remains the county's district attorney.
At last week's hearing in federal court, defense attorney Rick Navarro unsuccessfully argued for dismissal, saying the lawsuit was “at worst a negligence case,” the AP reported.
The judge then asked Gonzalez's legal team whether they could prove prosecutors knew about the legal exemption for mothers when they charged the woman.
“What we intend to show is that negligence doesn’t explain this oversight. It is the role and function of prosecutors to be aware of the elements of the statutes that they are charging,” replied David Donatti, an attorney with the ACLU of Texas.
Gonzalez was in her second trimester when she took the drugmisoprostol, and went to a local Texas hospital for abortion treatment. But staff were able to detect a heartbeat, and sent her home, she says in her lawsuit.
About an hour later, she began bleeding and suffering abdominal cramps so she returned to the medical center, where a C-section was performed, and a stillborn was delivered, authorities said.
Gonzalez alleges that her medical information was given to Starr County officials, who then arrested and charged her, despite the exemption for mothers in Texas' new abortion law.
The woman, who has other children at home, says her mug shot appeared "everywhere," following her arrest and subjected her and her family to unwanted, damaging attention.
Gonzalez suffered "humiliation" that "permanently affected her standing in the community," the woman alleged in her lawsuit.
"She does suffer from anxiety, and a lot of it is related to the arrest and the incarceration," said attorney Cecilia Garza, who also represents Gonzalez."She wasn’t able to be here today because she was just concerned about how it might affect her. But she’s very happy with today’s rulings," Garza said outside federal court last week.
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