A woman in Texas is suing prosecutors there who charged her with murder for an abortion she had in 2022—months before Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. Lizelle Gonzalez, 26, was arrested and spent two nights in jail before the charges were dismissed.
Pregnant people cannot be criminally prosecuted for their own abortions under state law – not now, nor at the time of Gonzalez's 2022 arrest. Gonzalez is now suing prosecutors, claiming in her lawsuit they knowingly misrepresented facts and disregarded her rights in order to have her arrested and charged, irrevocably changing the course of her life.The complaint was filed last week against Gocha Allen Ramirez, the Starr County district attorney, Alexandria Lynn Barrera, the assistant district attorney, and the county itself. CNN has reached out to all the defendants.
The Texas State Bar has already found that Ramirez, the district attorney, committed professional misconduct and fined him. Ramirez denied he was briefed on the case before his office pursued it, but investigators determined he was consulted by a prosecutor beforehand.
Gonzalez's attorneys released a statement:
"We have no doubt that the Starr County District Attorney, and his office, were well-aware that Texas law exempts a woman who receives an abortion, by any means, from a murder charge and yet chose to pursue an unjust and unconstitutional indictment," Gonzalez's attorneys, Cecilia Garza and Veronica S. Martinez, told CNN in a statement. "Such a flagrant violation of Ms. Gonzalez's basic civil rights cannot be regarded as a mere 'mistake.'"
Gonzales used misoprostol, one of the drug pair in a case under consideration by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Previously: Walgreens won`t sell abortion pills in `Red` states, even where it is legal
