A federal judge ruled Wednesday that a Texas woman’s lawsuit can proceed against the local sheriff and prosecutors who charged her with murder after she self-managed an abortion in 2022.
The case garnered national attention and outrage before the charges were quickly dropped.
U.S. District Judge Drew B. Tipton denied a motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Lizelle Gonzalez, who is seeking $1 million in damages for the two nights she spent in jail.
The hearing took place in McAllen, Texas, though Gonzalez did not attend.
Texas has one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the nation, prohibiting the procedure with limited exceptions. However, Texas law exempts women seeking an abortion from criminal charges.
Starr County District Attorney Gocha Ramirez and other defendants claimed immunity from civil lawsuits.
Defense attorney Rick Navarro characterized the situation as “at worst a negligence case,” and Ramirez admitted to the Associated Press that bringing charges was a “mistake.“
Judge Tipton questioned Gonzalez’s attorneys about proving the prosecutors’ knowledge of the legal exemptions.
David Donatti, an attorney with the ACLU of Texas representing Gonzalez, argued that negligence did not justify the oversight, emphasizing the prosecutors’ responsibility to understand the statutes they enforce.
Gonzalez was indicted in 2022 after taking the drug misoprostol while 19 weeks pregnant. She was treated at a local hospital, where doctors performed a caesarian section to deliver a stillborn child after detecting no fetal heartbeat.
The lawsuit, filed in March, also names the county, alleging that hospital staff violated patient privacy rights by reporting the abortion. An amended complaint accuses the sheriff’s office of interviewing and arresting Gonzalez under the direction of the prosecutors.
The charges were dropped days after Gonzalez’s arrest. In February, Ramirez agreed to a settlement with the State Bar of Texas, paying a $1,250 fine and accepting a probated suspension of his license for 12 months.
Judge Tipton’s ruling allows Gonzalez’s case to move forward, marking a significant step in her pursuit of justice and accountability for what she contends was a wrongful arrest under Texas’s stringent abortion laws.
