Amy Love

Opinion Editor

aml7458@psu.edu

On April 7, a 26 year old woman was arrested in Texas. She was charged with murder. According to local authorities, “she caused the death of an individual by a self-induced abortion.” 

She was located in Starr County and had a $500,000 bond. She was released on April 13 with the help of Fronterra Fund, which is a non-profit organization for abortion advoacy. 

It was confirmed on April 18 from a Texas district attorney that it was filed to dismiss the charge. According to Cable News Network, court records showed that the charges would be dismissed. 

The District Attorney, Gocha Allen Ramirez, stated “that the woman cannot and should not be prosecuted for the allegation against her.” 

Ramirez also made a statement saying that “it is clear that the Starr County Sheriff’s Department did their duty in investigating the incident brought to their attention by the reporting hospital. To ignore the incident would have been a dereliction of their duty.” 

This has all been ongoing for around three weeks now and it has been stated that there is no legal basis to justify these changes. 

Last year, the Governor of Texas signed a bill that allows individuals to sue doctors or anyone who helps provide an abortion. This bill is also known as the “Heartbeat Bill” due to it banning abortions after a heartbeat is detected, which is around six weeks. 

For this woman, she was at a hospital for reasons that were deducted as an abortion. It has not been made exactly clear, a lot of information is still under investigation. Much of the information that has been reported on are based on rumors so it is all being slowly piece together. 

What I have gathered from the information that is out there is that the hospital she went to for treatment reported her to authorities, who then felt that an arrest was needed. 

The Starr County Sheriff’s office exact charge was murder. In the statement, it said the following: “…intentionally and knowingly causing the death of an individual by self-induced abortion.” 

Essentially, from what I understand, this woman by default found a loophole from this law. The “Heartbeat Bill” does not make seeking an abortion a criminal charge, it made an opportunity to present a lawsuit. The lawsuit is still not great to have but at least there is not a chance to criminally charge individuals who seek an abortion. 

However, there is another exemption in this bill. According to the National Broadcasting Company, “it specifically exempted women, and other people who can get pregnant, from lawsuits.” Only those who help others get an abortion are able to be sued, the individual who is actually pregnant does not get punished. 

There is also the fact that, according to the National Broadcasting Company, “Texas’s murder statute explicitly prohibits anyone from prosecuting women or other pregannt people for abortion.” 

The woman who was wrongfully charged, and potential others, cannot be legally charged with murder for abortion. 

According to a law professor at University of Texas, Stephen Vladeck, “Homicide doesn’t apply to the murder of an unborn child if the conduct charged is ‘conduct commited by the mother of the unborn child.’”

For all the bad that comes from Texas, there is at least this small notion the state provides for its people. This is a loophole that individuals could use to bypass the “Heartbeat Bill” however it is not safe. 

Whether or not the woman who was arrested gave herself an abortion or not, it is not safe. It can seriously cause harm or death to the individual who is doing this, this should not be what people have to come to in order to get an abortion. 

If she did provide an abortion for herself then that means hospitals are not a safe place in Texas. Treatment may be need in cases of abortions done by one self, and if the hospital staff reports its to authorities then there is not a safe space. 

Yes, the state can not charge an individual with murder but this incident shows what type of treatment one would recieve. 

This is what individuals have to come to due to the “Heartbeat Bill.” The bill that was passed in September. The one that everyone labeled as unconstitutional. It still exists and it is still enforced.

The Supreme Court has not halted its presence nor have finished reviewing it, yet it still exists and it is still destroying lives. 

There is no better way to say that this woman got lucky. Her district attorney is described as Democratic in the news article, if she had somebody else, her charges might not have been fought. If the worst of the worse happened to her, her life would have been ruined.

The same cannot be said for other women in the state. The woman who cannot afford to travel outside the state to receive the treatment they desire. 

The “Heartbeat Bill” has existed for eight months. Yet no one is still angry about it. No one is fighting to get it revoked. 

This incident seemed like it would be a case of people fighting against the bill, saying that a woman cannot be punished for this.

These people were following the bill, it just happened that it did not completely apply to her. It does apply to others though, and they are being terribly affected by this. Everyone is discussing how the bill so nonchalantly when it should still not exist in the first place. 

It seems the people involved in this tolerate its existence. Everyone was so adamant about how the bill should not be signed into effect and yet, no one is showing their distaste for it. 

Other states are passing similar bills, for instance, Oklahoma. Almost everyone is saying how these bills should not exist but the bills are created and made into law.

Almost everyone says they are against them but everyone still continues to let it happen. 

The arrest of the 26 year old in Texas is just an example of how distressful these bills can cause someone seeking an abortion. This is a perfect example of what other women and others who are able to become pregnant can face and why something needs to be done about these new laws. Clearly, whatever people are doing is not enough and they need to get angry.