In something of a test of Texas’ abortion laws, a grand jury in Montgomery County has indicted a man for allegedly slipping an abortion-inducing medication to a pregnant woman, resulting in a stillbirth.
Jon Rueben Demeter, 25, was arrested in February after allegedly crushing a mifepristone pill, mixing it in a water bottle with electrolyte mix and providing it to a pregnant woman. She then gave birth to a stillborn child at what was estimated to be 14 weeks into pregnancy, according to Montgomery County Sheriff Wesley Doolittle.
During a news conference Wednesday in Montgomery County, livestreamed by Hello Woodlands, District Attorney Mike Holley stated the victim and her family would not be providing a comment but called her "brave and strong and did nothing wrong, except perhaps to be associated with this gentleman."
When a Houston Public Media reporter attempted to contact Demeter's attorney, Aaron Holt, a representative for his law firm said they would not provide a comment.
On Tuesday, a grand jury indicted Demeter on charges of injury to a child and, notably, a criminal count of providing an abortion. Prosecutors indicated the case was a watershed moment, potentially the first time a person has been criminally charged in Texas with providing an abortion.
"I would like to say, though, that although the legality of abortion has changed, even within my lifetime, in this country," Holley said, "it has never been lawful for someone to perform an abortion in the manner against the woman and against her consent, of this nature. It has never been the law. It has always been illegal."
In 2022, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that abortion law should be decided by the states, Texas' own bans on abortion took effect. Among them was a law passed by the Texas legislature in 2021 which created a criminal penalty for providing an abortion.
House Bill 1280 was the state's trigger law effectively banning abortion following the Supreme Court decision, which overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision in 1973. The Texas law went into effect in 2022 after the high court’s ruling. Outlined in HB 1280 was a criminal offense for the provision of an abortion. Though the law does carve out some exceptions for physicians, prosecutors argue they do not apply to Demeter, who is not a doctor.
"We carefully considered what charges would be most appropriate in this case, and we genuinely wrestled with this decision," Holley said. "We want it to be the right decision."
HB 1280, which the Republican-controlled Texas legislature passed largely along party lines, was somewhat overshadowed by Senate Bill 8 of the same session, the state's controversial law that effectively banned abortions by creating civil penalties rather than criminal ones. The law amended the state's Health and Safety Code to include several provisions regarding abortions, including the creation of a first-degree penalty when an unborn child dies as a result of an abortion.
The bill's author, state Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, did not immediately provide a comment on the case in Montgomery County, which is north of Houston.
Holley — who began the news conference by holding up a copy of Dr. Seuss' “Horton Hears a Who” to quote the famous adage, "a person's a person, no matter how small" — stated his office cited a legal precedent which obligates the court to charge individuals with the most specific crime applicable. As such, he said, the state's criminal law on illegal abortions was most applicable.
A first-degree felony in Texas carries a punishment between five years and life in prison. Demeter is being held in the Montgomery County jail, where he has been since he was initially charged in February.
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