Houston attorney Mason Herring, 38, was indicted by a grand jury after allegedly secretly slipping abortion medication into his pregnant wife’s water and numerous other drinks. Herring was charged with two felony counts of assault on a pregnant woman.

At the time of the incident, the couple, who also had two children, were separated. However, during the time of the alleged poisoning, the couple was attempting to reconcile, as per the advice of a local counselor.

Texas is an anti-abortion state, and Herring’s wife was not planning to have an abortion. She told authorities her husband starting “ranting” about her getting enough hydration, before giving her water, which she said looked “cloudy.” Soon afterward, she became extremely ill. That night, her cramping and severe bleeding caused her to go to the emergency room.

Mrs. Herring, in her affidavit, said that “she then began to suspect that something had been placed in her drink and that perhaps it was some kind of abortion drug.”

In court documents, the pregnant woman said her husband told her the water was “cloudy” because of “dirty water pipes.” Mrs. Herring told authorities that her husband attempted to give her allegedly tainted drinks about four more times, including a container of orange juice with a broken seal. But she had already stopped taking any drinks from her husband, since she became suspicious of him, after the first allegedly tainted cup of water.

The wife told investigators that after she fell ill and became suspicious of her husband, she soon discovered packaging from an abortion drug containing Misoprostol. She also provided authorities with numerous text messages from her husband who told her he was not happy about the pregnancy, and that her pregnancy “would ruin his plans and make him look like a jerk.”

Court documents report that the Houston police used security cameras and watched Herring taking a powdered substance from a bag in his pocket and adding it to a drink with cranberry juice, which he then gave his wife. The court documents also claim Mrs. Herring watched surveillance and saw him not only dispose of the drug packaged as “Cyrux,” a Mexican brand whose main ingredient is the abortion drug Misoprostol, but also saw him a few days later making a drink for her and adding an unknown substance to the drink.

The alleged abortion-drugging incident took place after the Texas Heartbeat Act was passed. The bill was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott on May 19, 2021, and took effect in September 2021.

The Texas Heartbeat Act is one of the most severe bans in the US and blocks all abortions after a pregnancy hits the six-week mark. The Act also includes what is known as “vigilante litigation,” which allows citizens or medical staff, including doctors, to sue anyone who aids a pregnant woman in having an abortion in Texas and allows up to a $10,000 court award.

In spite of the 1973 federal law “Roe v. Wade,” which makes abortion legal until a fetus is “viable,” the US Supreme Court upheld the Texas Heartbeat Act in December 2021. This ruling prevents all abortion providers including doctors and/or medical facilities from suing state officials, court clerks, judges and the Texas attorney general. Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court in June 2022.

Herring is the first person in his area, Harris County, Texas, to be charged with assault-force induction of abortion. The new statute became law after Texas outlawed abortions in Texas. The charge carries a sentence of two to ten years in prison, with a fine of up to $10,000.

Mrs. Herring gave birth to her healthy child prematurely. Her husband is awaiting his court date and is out on a $30,000 bail.