AUSTIN, Texas — A Texas grand jury has indicted a husband accused of slipping a medicine used for abortions into his wife’s drinks in hopes that it would end her pregnancy.
Mason Herring, a 38-year-old Houston attorney, was indicted on two felony counts, including assault of a pregnant person, under charges handed up last week by a Harris County grand jury. Court records show he was originally arrested in May and released on a $30,000 bond.
Nicholas Norris, an attorney for Herring, declined to immediately comment Thursday.
Prosecutors told Houston television station KTRK that the baby was born prematurely but was healthy and well.
According to court documents, Herring’s wife told authorities her husband in March began lecturing her on hydration and offering water. She said she became severely ill and after drinking from the first cup that appeared cloudy, which her husband allegedly explained was perhaps the result of the cup or water pipes being dirty.
Herring’s wife became suspicious, according to court records, and began refusing multiple other drinks her husband offered. She said she later found in the trash packaging for a drug that contains misoprostol, a medicine used to induce abortion.
The couple had separated earlier this year and were attending marriage counseling when she told him about the pregnancy, according to court documents. She said Mason Herring expressed to her in text messages multiple times that he was unhappy about the pregnancy.
A spokesperson for the Harris County District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. Herring was also indicted on an assault charge of attempting to an induce an abortion.
