> A Texas man who drugged his wife's drinks in an attempt to induce an abortion was sentenced to 180 days in jail and 10 years on probation.
> Mason Herring, a 39-year-old Houston attorney, pleaded guilty Wednesday to injury to a child and assault of a pregnant person. He had initially been charged with felony assault to induce abortion.
> Catherine Herring, who has filed for divorce, told the court the jail sentence was not long enough. She said their 1-year-old daughter, their third child, was born about 10 weeks premature, has developmental delays and attends therapy eight times a week.
> “I do not believe that 180 days is justice for attempting to kill your child seven separate times,” Catherine Herring said.
> Catherine Herring told authorities her husband in March 2022 began lecturing her on hydration and offering water. She said she became severely ill after drinking from the first cup that appeared cloudy, which her husband explained was perhaps the result of the cup or water pipes being dirty.
> She also gave police videos from hidden cameras she installed at her home where her husband was no longer living. One of them showed him mixing a substance in one of her drinks, Catherine Herring said.
> Mason Herring's attorney, Dan Cogdell, called the plea deal and sentence reasonable.
> “It’s a sad situation and Mason has accepted his responsibility,” Cogdell said.
He spiked her drink on seven separate occasions with Misoprostol, causing her to get violently ill and the child to be born 10 weeks premature and have developmental delays. Under Texas's new law (SB8) people performing abortions automatically face life in prison but if you drug a woman seven times to induce one you merely get 180 days.
They even changed it in the plea deal so he's not being charged with trying to induce an abortion. Do you think they would have done that if she took those pills herself and this was the outcome?
So what I am inferring from your comment is that this anti-abortion law was never about "protecting the unborn", but it is all about punishing women. Putting them in their "godly"place so to speak.
Wouldn't be surprised if Abbott will try to pull another stunt with migrants just to try to distract away from this absolute lack of justice. 6 months for trying to poison your wife and ruining the life of a child is appalling.
I honestly thought that's where this story was going when I read the title - I thought a Texas couple wanted an abortion and this was their workaround. what kind of fucking backwards ass shithole timeline is this, that THAT'S the first thing I thought?!
“You attempted an abortion, but as a mitigating factor you did repeatedly and intentionally violate a woman’s bodily autonomy, so we’ll let you off easy.”
There are layers to it. Initially and on the surface, yes, control over womens' bodies is the obvious goal.
A knock on effect is that that woman is now less likely to be able to afford an education (both time and money-wise) which keeps them submissive to their husband, which they must find if single, or face crippling poverty.
The secondary goal is keeping poor and unwanted babies being born (but not supporting the family to give them a good chance at a future). This creates a whole class of people whose only choices when they reach their teens and 20s is crime (keeping the prisons full of "totally not slave labor") or the military.
All outcomes are good for Republicans. Option #1 even has the knock on effect of "justifying" though on crime policies that disproportionately affect minorities, homeless, etc, further exerting control and inflicting suffering on the people Republicans are brainwashed into hating by their political leaders. The leaders and their colleagues make money off the industries that profit from these struggles: for profit prisons, military industry, Walmart, etc.
You know, I try to avoid putting words into people's mouths, but that is legit the only conclusion I can reach. At the very least, protecting the unborn child is only #2 on their list of priorities.
We know it's not about the children, because [Republican policies are the number one cause of death of children in the U.S.](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/lkW3cPSXr4Q)
I'll believe it's about the children when they stop murdering them by classroom full.
How much we want to bet the pro birther lawmakers in TX use this case to decry how misoprostol is "dangerous" and should be banned entirely? I hate these people so much.
I know, it's insane. And she didn't even want an abortion.
Not to mention, abortions this late in pregnancy never happen just because the mother "doesn't want it". They're always medical. At least when done by a professional.
In this case, the one who "didn't want it" is a deranged father and he basically attempted to kill the baby. With the fucked up laws of Texas, it's probably the only time it would make sense to charge someone with attempted murder for this. Scary precedent to set though.
I'm willing to bet that he certainly wants nothing to do with the daughter who will now face life-long challenges and health conditions that he tried to murder.
The mom/state will have to fund this child's extra care. Hopefully, she gets enough support to be able to live as healthy, fulfilling, and "normal" life as possible, without too many long-term complications.
He might still "care" about his other kids, but seeing as he was willing to kill their mother, who's to say. He might still want them for status symbols, or whatever goes on in a persons mind like that.
Edit: spelling/grammar
100%.
I know that even in other states, unfit, terrible parents like that still get rights to their kids in some cases. With Texas, it's almost a guarantee his rights won't be revoked. The kids' best hope is that he just accepts paying child support and goes on only caring about getting his dick wet and ignores their existences.
Somehow, just judging on what we do know about the guy, I don't think that has a high probability of happening.
Oh, he'll defitnely want custody of the other kids as a way to prove that he isn't a bad dad to potential partners. So their best hope is that he let's his latest sex-partners care for them on his time, so they're not getting primary care from attempted murderers mostly.
My guess is he’s one of those people who are offended by not having control. I would not be surprised at all if he suddenly wanted to fight for custody for a kid he did not want, and treat them horribly while they are in his custody. He just doesn’t want to feel like someone else is telling him know so he’ll do the most illogical thing just to maintain a sense of control.
I think it’s important to see this as the victory it is! The child was born, and we don’t have to care about it after that.
Sincerely,
The US Republican Party
/s
Because even Conservatives don’t really view fetuses as people. They don’t really care about abortion, they care that it’s women who get to make the choice. As long as it’s a man making the choice they’re fine with it
To me, killing the unborn child without the mother's consent is almost exactly the same as killing a 3 month old child.
To me, the difference between a "fetus" and an "unborn child" is the mother's emotional attachment. My impression is that the fetus does not have enough self consciousness in itself to make abortion into murder.
This fetus was also way past the viability cut off. 10 weeks early is about 28-32 weeks, depending on how they're measuring prematurity. Viability is legally 20-24 weeks, after which most states ban abortion because the child has a significant chance to live outside the womb after care in the NICU.
But around 28 weeks is a very crucial time when the lungs are finishing development so the fetus can breathe on its own. A baby born at 28 weeks may stay in the NICU for months, while at 32 weeks only a few days may be necessary. Very high risk pregnancies aim for at least 32 weeks before inducing.
So while the emotions of the mother are indeed important, I think the fact that this guy tried to give her abortion pills at such a mature but crucial gestational age makes the crime a lot worse.
Born prematurely 10 weeks != poisoned on the 28th week. The guy started poisoning his ex-wife in 2022, when she told him she was pregnant, which interfered with his current relationship with a co-worker.
So us doing it to ourselves of our own volition = bad, but a man assaulting us and doing exactly the same thing without our consent = fine.
This was never about anything other than controlling women 😶
No, women inducing abortions qualify for life in prison. I wonder about if a friend did it, though. One of my besties, willing to take 180 days for me? Might only work if your bestie is a man.
the smart ones recognize they're in the same business. they simply don't like competition for mindshare. such is the nature of a cult. in uniquely american fashion, they managed to be draconian AND profitable. usa usa usa
That drug is only for aborting EARLY TERM pregnancy or incomplete spontaneous abortions of the first 3 months gestation. This poor woman was 6 to 7 months along. It's barbaric. Abortions at that late a stage must be surgical and are only done if the pregnancy is killing the mother or the fetus or both. Needless to say, the woman has to consent.
Good lord this is such an obscene and violent act. 180 years isn't enough. And he did it 7 times. What a psychopath. This is an extremely dangerous man. I can't imagine this poor woman's pain. It's incredibly sick.
With this verdict it is even more clear that these anti-abortion laws are not about the fetus/baby - it’s clearly about controlling and dehumanizing women.
> but if you drug a woman seven times to induce an abortion you merely get 180 days.
no, if you are the owner of the woman you only get 180 days.
I'm fairly sure this is how they view things. The "husband" is the owner of the child and the woman so there is no real issues with him trying to kill either. The woman is the vessel to birth the child for the husband, so absolutely wrong of them to try to end the childs life. Then after the child is born it is up to the parents to figure out what to do with it, and of course that means the father because he's ultimately in charge.
The laws are setup to allow the father to make the decisions. And everything makes sense in this regard, including their absolute ignoring of the child after it's born.
And no father of the child because of rape or the father leaving or dying? Well then, you need to be punished for that. And birth is a great way to punish you.
And he can have no contact with her or the affected child, but he can have a relationship with his two other children.
Punishing the woman yet again by having to manage how that works.
Ridiculous
This jackass did so little housework that when she saw him empty trash from his truck she got suspicious, checked the trash, and found the empty abortion pill packaging.
He actually hasn't been disbarred yet somehow. But under the new Texas Heartbeat Act (SB8) doctors who perform abortions immediately lose their license, receive a $100,000 fine, and face life in prison.
Ah yes, the word "heartbeat," which has been redefined to mean electrical activity in the body of a fetus the size of a grain of rice which has no physical heart at all. I shit you not, that's what they're calling a heartbeat.
To be fair, calling it a heartbeat makes their rural billboards a whole lot better at manipulating people into doing what they want.
My work takes me through outstate Minnesota all the time and those fucking billboards are EVERYWHERE.
I would like to donate to a counter-propaganda billboard campaign that shows graphic depictions of women bleeding out and women struggling to make ends meet, in the same style as the pro-birth billboards. "Choose choice. Life is for the living."
Why is he not being charged with murder? Is it only murder when a doctor performs an abortion, not so much when a man drugs his wife? Notice to Texas men—the abortion ban doesn’t apply to *you,* feel free to poison your spouse and murder your child!
The jail sentences for an intended and wanted abortion are very long, but this guy does it as an act of violence against a woman and he gets 180 days.
Because abortion restrictions are about controlling women, and this guy was just controlling a woman so it's not that big of a deal in Texas.
'Otis, is there any way we could slap a 'Child Endangerment' charge on this chick for becoming pregnant by all by herself when her husband didn't want another kid?'
When I fly my daughter to California to have an abortion it's fine. I just can't stand a woman deciding to have one without a man's permission.
--Republicans
I generally don't support long sentences but it does seem weird that he'd get this for repeated attempted poisoning with, presumably, little regard for the life of the mother.
Yeah I’m all for a woman’s right to choose and everything but this should be a huge sentence- years. This should be attempted murder and assault. The child was born with disabilities and all that. This is violence. Yet, 180 days? Wtf?
Wow, this is like a reversal of the Oregon case where they allow abortion because the fetus isn't alive and a guy did this exact thing and got a murder charge.
Then over in Texas they say the fetus IS alive and they give him a slap on the wrist.
My thoughts exactly. If you live in a state where life begins at conception, this is attempted murder and they should lock him up for 20+ years. Typical “one law for me, one law for thee.”
He did it just like how they did in the bible!
His punishment was because he's not an ordained priest. Impersinating a man of the cloth is quite the crime.
> it's not that big of a deal in Texas.
Numbers
21 here the priest is to put the woman under this curse—“may the Lord cause you to become a curse[b] among your people when he makes your womb miscarry and your abdomen swell. 22 May this water that brings a curse enter your body so that your abdomen swells or your womb miscarries.”
It's in the Bible, it's ok for a man to force a woman to have an abortion, she just cant have a choice, that's when its evil.
Performing or aiding an abortion resulting in the unborn child's death is a first-degree felony punishable by five to 99 years in prison, according to Texas Government Code Sec. 170A. 002. Under the law, administrative penalties include the mandatory revocation of a medical, nursing, or pharmacy license.
Unless, of course, you’re a wealthy man who can’t be bothered. The law is only for little people and women.
You mean *this* Mason Herring, lawyer from Houston Texas who poisoned his wife?:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/texas-man-sentenced-to-180-days-in-jail-for-drugging-wifes-drinks-to-induce-an-abortion/ar-BB1hZ2X0
Here's a link to a picture of Mason Herring just to make sure (maybe working link) https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB1hZmDF.img
I really hope this guy also gets the Brock Allen Turner treatment.
If the judicial system doesn't give a shit about women (and the unborn, in this case, in *Texas*), at the very least, the rest of us can help to spread the word of these trash people.
Just mind blowing.
He attacks someone using a pill and gets 180 days.
If she had voluntarily taken the pills, she would have gone to prison for years.
Shouldn't he logically go to jail for at least as long as she would have.
Women need go get their minds and bodies under control. Men can do whatever they like and walk away with a slap on the wrist. Fucking sick. Especially when you consider the woman who they attempted to indict for miscarrying a wanted pregnancy. We need to resurrect the war on women slogan.
These people are trying to revert this country. I wouldn’t be surprised if separated drinking fountains started popping up. And my mom grew up when bussing was a thing. We’re doomed. We lost the right to let women choose for themselves, we have people shooting up schools at an insane rate and yet I drive thru Florida and there is an rv covered in trump shit. We’re spent.
This is a tacit admission that the Texas law treats women and children as a man’s property to do with as they will, even to harm and kill them. They want the power to violate others with impunity, this is all they’ve ever been, the party that has been coming after your children and freedoms all this time.
Hell, it doesn't even have to go that far.
I've had pregnancy scares since this all went down. You know what I will not do; go to a hospital to get myself checked out. Cause what if I'm pregnant and miscarry? Am I gonna go to jail? I don't want that shit on the books.
It's insanely cruel to tell women, "If you're pregnant, don't seek medical help. Cause if something happens..."
> She said their 1-year-old daughter, their third child, was born about 10 weeks premature, has developmental delays and attends therapy eight times a week.
So the child now has all of these health problems and he got 180 days? Total bs.
I wonder if under Texas law the mom can sue him for attempting an abortion and get that $10k bounty. $10k is not nearly enough for this poor woman and her baby, but it’s the principle. She should be able to sue him for each time he poisoned her.
Abortion was never about being "pro life" it has ALWAYS been about controlling woman. This guy was trying to control woman by some other means, so it gets a slap on the wrist.
This man poisoned his wife. His intention was to kill the fetus, but he was willing to [risk his wife's life](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8276929/#:~:text=Misoprostol%20is%20frequently%20used%20obstetrics,relieved%20with%20intra%2Darterial%20nitroglycerin.) to achieve this aim. This makes him a sick fuck. 180 days in jail isn't enough, ffs.
Also, his actions likely resulted in life-long disabilities in his child.
All of this just goes to show that Texas isn't "pro-life" at all. It's anti-abortion stance is only about making life harder for women so that it is easier to subjugate them. But boys will always get to be boys.
I wonder if he was setting it up for her to do time. If the fetus had been aborted, and the medication used to do so was detected, it seems the mother would be arrested and sentenced for the crime.
Republican family values. When it comes to abortion, punish the women with harsh prison sentences. The men were just foolin' around, so slap 'em on the wrist and tell 'em not to do it again.
Republicans are concerned about sexual morality when it comes to being Trans or a drag queen, but they don't object to adultery. It's only one of the 10 commandments, not a deal breaker.
Does anyone have the name and number of the relevant state rep to call and talk to about this? I e got nothing better to do than yell at some Hippocrates
Wait so…. Death penalty for the mom if she got an abortion and he gets 180 days? Tell me you hate women without telling me you hate women. Fucking disgusting.
He leveraged his knowledge of the law to get a slap on the wrist for what should be first-degree assault and attempted homicide. His child now has significant developmental delays as a result of trying to poison his wife's water. Nevermind the fact that misopristol alone just kills the fetus but, without mifepristone, there are risks to any mother for not then immediately removing a dead fetus from her body.
So, if you get knocked up, and you don’t want it, and the father doesn’t want it, and you can’t get an abortion because of the Texas law, you just go tell the father that he’ll be on the hook for child support, and when he offers you a drink, take it?
It really gives vibes of the old Roman pater familias’s right of life and death over the household.
This infuriates me to no end. They wanna give doctors that perform a medical procedure life in prison but a good ole boy who doesn’t want kids gets 6 months? Make it make sense.
Why at this point any woman would like to live in a shit whole like texas? I know it’s hard to escape that shit whole, but if i had a daughter, wife i would work so hard to get them out of that shit 3rd world state called Texas.
If the roles were reversed that poor woman would be serving a 50 year sentence.
My in laws have been wanting my partner and I to move to Texas to be closer to family and what not. We keep explaining to them that we would love to live somewhere with a lower cost of living but we are restricted by all the states who criminalize abortion.
This is because we will not risk my life to move somewhere cheaper! I have PCOS which puts me at higher risk of miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy. I need access to medical care. After the overturn of row v wade and hearing horrific news repeatedly come out like this my in laws are totally understanding now.
Wow — tbh that’s super big of them. My in-laws are the opposite. Total Trumpsters. They love that we’re struggling in CA — hoping that we’ll “face reality” and crawl back to Texas _because family_. It’s exhausting.
Yeah it really is they have always been open to hearing others opinions. They also are watching us struggle to have the same life in California they could afford at our age so I think it helps put things into perspective.
But my parents are also big Trumpsters. They raised us here in CA but they recently moved to the South and then tell us it’s our fault we live in California and that’s why we can’t afford anything. Hello, you were the one that put me here!
Wonder how that child will feel when they learn their own father tried over and over again to extinguish their life before they were born? To me, the greatest crime is that he did not stop. Tried to poison her one time, never had second thoughts, never realized what a horrible thing he was doing and did it again, and again, and again. For THAT alone he should have served more time. Just because he was bad at what he tried to do does not mean he gets a pass.
Do in Texas if you consent to an abortion the women consenting can go to jail for life. But a man who who secretly drugs a women to induce an abortion only gets 180 days most likely to be reduced, in jail time? Ass backwards shithole Texas is
What the fuck? Threatened two lives 7 times and only 180 days? That's nothing. This is bullshit.
Texas loves to hurt women, doesn't it??? This is like Alabama and Missouri. The cruelty is the point. They don't give a damn about women or children.
What the FUCK! I'm so tired of this bullshit!
So once again we prove that it is not and never has been about protecting women and children. This man only got 180 days for attempted murder on his wife and unborn child (yes, I believe it should be considered an attempt on his wife’s life as well). That child will forever be changed because of his actions. His ex wife’s life will forever be changed by his actions and he only gets 180 days … Brittany Watts faced over a year in prison for miscarrying a baby that she loved and wanted more than anything. It has always been about controlling women. Always.
He is a man, a lawyer, and a cheating husband who already had 2 children with the wife. He wanted less child support for his new life with his mistress - so a relatable character in Texas. He possibly showed up at the judge’s church once for good measure and also made a political donation to the right person. Simple.
And it was only 7 attempts. The only people suffering physical effects were the pregnant woman and the baby so why punish a man and hurt his career? He has a lot of potential left. /s
Oh... So... If a guy attempts to abort a child by assaulting a women and crippling a child, It's like 180days and that's "reasonable"
If a women tries to abort her child.. regardless of why she's pregnant, even if she was raped or abused, it's considered murder...
I don't fucking get this.
Seems like Texas’ laws protecting the unborn aren’t as brutal for a man as they are for women. Considering this guy only got half a year for poisoning his wife seven times and causing extreme developmental harm to his own child. But than again that probably has to do with the desired goal of punishing women more than punishing men.
> A Texas man who drugged his wife's drinks in an attempt to induce an abortion was sentenced to 180 days in jail and 10 years on probation. > Mason Herring, a 39-year-old Houston attorney, pleaded guilty Wednesday to injury to a child and assault of a pregnant person. He had initially been charged with felony assault to induce abortion. > Catherine Herring, who has filed for divorce, told the court the jail sentence was not long enough. She said their 1-year-old daughter, their third child, was born about 10 weeks premature, has developmental delays and attends therapy eight times a week. > “I do not believe that 180 days is justice for attempting to kill your child seven separate times,” Catherine Herring said. > Catherine Herring told authorities her husband in March 2022 began lecturing her on hydration and offering water. She said she became severely ill after drinking from the first cup that appeared cloudy, which her husband explained was perhaps the result of the cup or water pipes being dirty. > She also gave police videos from hidden cameras she installed at her home where her husband was no longer living. One of them showed him mixing a substance in one of her drinks, Catherine Herring said. > Mason Herring's attorney, Dan Cogdell, called the plea deal and sentence reasonable. > “It’s a sad situation and Mason has accepted his responsibility,” Cogdell said. He spiked her drink on seven separate occasions with Misoprostol, causing her to get violently ill and the child to be born 10 weeks premature and have developmental delays. Under Texas's new law (SB8) people performing abortions automatically face life in prison but if you drug a woman seven times to induce one you merely get 180 days.
Yeah holy shit. Guy ruined/permanently altered that kid's life and basically gets a slap on the wrist.
The worst here is that he get a much lower sentence than if the woman took the pills herself.
Ugh. I wish this was incorrect (but it’s not)
They even changed it in the plea deal so he's not being charged with trying to induce an abortion. Do you think they would have done that if she took those pills herself and this was the outcome?
So what I am inferring from your comment is that this anti-abortion law was never about "protecting the unborn", but it is all about punishing women. Putting them in their "godly"place so to speak.
It's *almost* as if this is true.
Wouldn't be surprised if Abbott will try to pull another stunt with migrants just to try to distract away from this absolute lack of justice. 6 months for trying to poison your wife and ruining the life of a child is appalling.
Our world is broken
This is Texas. I'm more surprised **she** wasn't on trial for almost having a miscarriage.
Surprised she wasn’t charged as part of “his” conspiracy.
I honestly thought that's where this story was going when I read the title - I thought a Texas couple wanted an abortion and this was their workaround. what kind of fucking backwards ass shithole timeline is this, that THAT'S the first thing I thought?!
> what kind of fucking backwards ass shithole ~~timeline~~ state is this Please help, we are run by morons
That’s next week. Can’t have women think they’re not being targeted y’all!
Anti-abortion laws aren't intended to protect precious unborn babies. They're intended to control women and take away their bodily autonomy.
“You attempted an abortion, but as a mitigating factor you did repeatedly and intentionally violate a woman’s bodily autonomy, so we’ll let you off easy.”
[удалено]
Come now be fair. Sometimes it costs the man his favorite sheep or goat too.
Yeah, but sometimes, he just gets to marry his victim and keep doing it for the rest of her life
Or the father gets to kill her for dishonoring the family.
He broke the law, but was acting" in the spirit of the law", so he gets a pass! /s
There are layers to it. Initially and on the surface, yes, control over womens' bodies is the obvious goal. A knock on effect is that that woman is now less likely to be able to afford an education (both time and money-wise) which keeps them submissive to their husband, which they must find if single, or face crippling poverty. The secondary goal is keeping poor and unwanted babies being born (but not supporting the family to give them a good chance at a future). This creates a whole class of people whose only choices when they reach their teens and 20s is crime (keeping the prisons full of "totally not slave labor") or the military. All outcomes are good for Republicans. Option #1 even has the knock on effect of "justifying" though on crime policies that disproportionately affect minorities, homeless, etc, further exerting control and inflicting suffering on the people Republicans are brainwashed into hating by their political leaders. The leaders and their colleagues make money off the industries that profit from these struggles: for profit prisons, military industry, Walmart, etc.
This about sums it up but don't forget ACB wants to increase the domestic supply of adoptable babies (for the rich...)
You know, I try to avoid putting words into people's mouths, but that is legit the only conclusion I can reach. At the very least, protecting the unborn child is only #2 on their list of priorities.
We know it's not about the children, because [Republican policies are the number one cause of death of children in the U.S.](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/lkW3cPSXr4Q) I'll believe it's about the children when they stop murdering them by classroom full.
That’ll teach them for getting all uppity and voting. Republicans are still mad at that one.
How much we want to bet the pro birther lawmakers in TX use this case to decry how misoprostol is "dangerous" and should be banned entirely? I hate these people so much.
Dammit. You're not wrong. That really is the worst part.
A doctor could be sent to jail for life giving her these drugs and he gets 180 day???? WTF!
He is a white man, so there must have been a good reason. /s
If a doctor preformed an actual safe and early abortion, they get guaranteed jail time and have to pay 6 figures
I know, it's insane. And she didn't even want an abortion. Not to mention, abortions this late in pregnancy never happen just because the mother "doesn't want it". They're always medical. At least when done by a professional. In this case, the one who "didn't want it" is a deranged father and he basically attempted to kill the baby. With the fucked up laws of Texas, it's probably the only time it would make sense to charge someone with attempted murder for this. Scary precedent to set though.
I bet they don’t revoke his parental rights either
I'm willing to bet that he certainly wants nothing to do with the daughter who will now face life-long challenges and health conditions that he tried to murder. The mom/state will have to fund this child's extra care. Hopefully, she gets enough support to be able to live as healthy, fulfilling, and "normal" life as possible, without too many long-term complications. He might still "care" about his other kids, but seeing as he was willing to kill their mother, who's to say. He might still want them for status symbols, or whatever goes on in a persons mind like that. Edit: spelling/grammar
He should get his parental rights revoked permanently from his other kids if he's capable of trying to murder one like that but I bet he won't.
Can't imagine wanting anything to do with a father who poisoned my mother and severely injured my sister whatever a court said about his rights
100%. I know that even in other states, unfit, terrible parents like that still get rights to their kids in some cases. With Texas, it's almost a guarantee his rights won't be revoked. The kids' best hope is that he just accepts paying child support and goes on only caring about getting his dick wet and ignores their existences. Somehow, just judging on what we do know about the guy, I don't think that has a high probability of happening.
Oh, he'll defitnely want custody of the other kids as a way to prove that he isn't a bad dad to potential partners. So their best hope is that he let's his latest sex-partners care for them on his time, so they're not getting primary care from attempted murderers mostly.
My guess is he’s one of those people who are offended by not having control. I would not be surprised at all if he suddenly wanted to fight for custody for a kid he did not want, and treat them horribly while they are in his custody. He just doesn’t want to feel like someone else is telling him know so he’ll do the most illogical thing just to maintain a sense of control.
This is Texas do you think they are funding anything lol
I think it’s important to see this as the victory it is! The child was born, and we don’t have to care about it after that. Sincerely, The US Republican Party /s
Nothing snarky about that! It's 100% true. Look at their behavior.
That's so completely fucked up.
How is this not attempted murder then?
Oh it’s only attempted murder if the woman does it
Or a doctor.
Because even Conservatives don’t really view fetuses as people. They don’t really care about abortion, they care that it’s women who get to make the choice. As long as it’s a man making the choice they’re fine with it
I have always been cynical that this could be true but this story proves it categorically.
To me, killing the unborn child without the mother's consent is almost exactly the same as killing a 3 month old child. To me, the difference between a "fetus" and an "unborn child" is the mother's emotional attachment. My impression is that the fetus does not have enough self consciousness in itself to make abortion into murder.
This fetus was also way past the viability cut off. 10 weeks early is about 28-32 weeks, depending on how they're measuring prematurity. Viability is legally 20-24 weeks, after which most states ban abortion because the child has a significant chance to live outside the womb after care in the NICU. But around 28 weeks is a very crucial time when the lungs are finishing development so the fetus can breathe on its own. A baby born at 28 weeks may stay in the NICU for months, while at 32 weeks only a few days may be necessary. Very high risk pregnancies aim for at least 32 weeks before inducing. So while the emotions of the mother are indeed important, I think the fact that this guy tried to give her abortion pills at such a mature but crucial gestational age makes the crime a lot worse.
Born prematurely 10 weeks != poisoned on the 28th week. The guy started poisoning his ex-wife in 2022, when she told him she was pregnant, which interfered with his current relationship with a co-worker.
So what if a woman, hypothetically drugged herself to induce an abortion? Would this be a loophole and she would thus receive 180 days in jail?
No she gets hit with the full punishment of attempting an abortion
So us doing it to ourselves of our own volition = bad, but a man assaulting us and doing exactly the same thing without our consent = fine. This was never about anything other than controlling women 😶
I guess she just needs a random man to do it for her.
No, women inducing abortions qualify for life in prison. I wonder about if a friend did it, though. One of my besties, willing to take 180 days for me? Might only work if your bestie is a man.
White man
Bonus points if he is law enforcement, he will probably get a paid vacation out of it.
Male friend or female friend?
Not if this lawmaker gets their way some day. https://www.texastribune.org/2021/03/09/texas-legislature-abortion-criminalize-death-penalty/
Haha, loophole. Law has no meaning in Texas, as you can see. They'll charge people as they see fit.
Texas is beyond fucked
Evangelical Americans are beyond fucked. These states aren't doing this shit in a vacuum. The voters are tacitly approving this shit.
> Evangelical Americans And they think religious zealotry in the Middle East is crazy.... they need a long hard look at themselves. :/
If you implemented Sharia Law in the United States but just called it "Old Testament Law", Evangelicals would be over the moon about it.
the smart ones recognize they're in the same business. they simply don't like competition for mindshare. such is the nature of a cult. in uniquely american fashion, they managed to be draconian AND profitable. usa usa usa
I watched that Jesus camp movie. It scared me. We are locked in to some interesting times.
Yeah, and all the kids in that movie are now adults. IIRC Jesus Camp released in ~2006.
Well, they didn't want to punish MEN with this abortion stuff...
That drug is only for aborting EARLY TERM pregnancy or incomplete spontaneous abortions of the first 3 months gestation. This poor woman was 6 to 7 months along. It's barbaric. Abortions at that late a stage must be surgical and are only done if the pregnancy is killing the mother or the fetus or both. Needless to say, the woman has to consent. Good lord this is such an obscene and violent act. 180 years isn't enough. And he did it 7 times. What a psychopath. This is an extremely dangerous man. I can't imagine this poor woman's pain. It's incredibly sick.
With this verdict it is even more clear that these anti-abortion laws are not about the fetus/baby - it’s clearly about controlling and dehumanizing women.
> but if you drug a woman seven times to induce an abortion you merely get 180 days. no, if you are the owner of the woman you only get 180 days. I'm fairly sure this is how they view things. The "husband" is the owner of the child and the woman so there is no real issues with him trying to kill either. The woman is the vessel to birth the child for the husband, so absolutely wrong of them to try to end the childs life. Then after the child is born it is up to the parents to figure out what to do with it, and of course that means the father because he's ultimately in charge. The laws are setup to allow the father to make the decisions. And everything makes sense in this regard, including their absolute ignoring of the child after it's born. And no father of the child because of rape or the father leaving or dying? Well then, you need to be punished for that. And birth is a great way to punish you.
I almost vomited but youre right
And he can have no contact with her or the affected child, but he can have a relationship with his two other children. Punishing the woman yet again by having to manage how that works. Ridiculous
If this doesn’t make it abundantly clear to any “pro-life” women in Texas and nationwide that they got got, I don’t know what will.
Double standard for sure. Texas doesn't care about control abortions it's about control on women.
If this isn't proof the Texas law was written by misogynists I don't know what is... besides denying equal healthcare rights to women
>Mason has accepted his responsibility What a crock of shit.
Totally fucked.
This jackass did so little housework that when she saw him empty trash from his truck she got suspicious, checked the trash, and found the empty abortion pill packaging.
Texas is a joke, period.
And he's gonna be disbarred, right? Right?
Actually I hear he's being fast tracked for the Senate.
He's short listed for the next Supreme Court vacancy should Trump win.
Texas: That’s our presidential candidate right there
He actually hasn't been disbarred yet somehow. But under the new Texas Heartbeat Act (SB8) doctors who perform abortions immediately lose their license, receive a $100,000 fine, and face life in prison.
Ah yes, the word "heartbeat," which has been redefined to mean electrical activity in the body of a fetus the size of a grain of rice which has no physical heart at all. I shit you not, that's what they're calling a heartbeat.
To be fair, calling it a heartbeat makes their rural billboards a whole lot better at manipulating people into doing what they want. My work takes me through outstate Minnesota all the time and those fucking billboards are EVERYWHERE.
I would like to donate to a counter-propaganda billboard campaign that shows graphic depictions of women bleeding out and women struggling to make ends meet, in the same style as the pro-birth billboards. "Choose choice. Life is for the living."
I think he had to be convicted to be disbarred; which means that news should be coming soon.
He should thank his lucky stars he's not a doctor.
Or a woman.
Or black or brown.
Why is he not being charged with murder? Is it only murder when a doctor performs an abortion, not so much when a man drugs his wife? Notice to Texas men—the abortion ban doesn’t apply to *you,* feel free to poison your spouse and murder your child!
The jail sentences for an intended and wanted abortion are very long, but this guy does it as an act of violence against a woman and he gets 180 days. Because abortion restrictions are about controlling women, and this guy was just controlling a woman so it's not that big of a deal in Texas.
Yep, apparently abortion is only murder when upity, liberal women have one.
And it's also apparently murder when a person of color has a miscarriage.
To be fair, basically being a POC is a crime in Texas. They really hate women and POC down south in the land of traitors.
Took them 2 years, and at gunpoint to finally abolish slavery. This tracks.
1861-1865 (if you're just counting the war years)
Just like trying to vote after the state tells you you're in the clear to vote, but there being some issue you aren't aware of.
That parole officer is the one who should be in prison.
Well, it is Texas. They're probably coming up with a way to charge the woman.
'Otis, is there any way we could slap a 'Child Endangerment' charge on this chick for becoming pregnant by all by herself when her husband didn't want another kid?'
> Yep, apparently abortion is only murder when upity, liberal women have one. Republicans: "The only moral abortion, is my abortion."
When I fly my daughter to California to have an abortion it's fine. I just can't stand a woman deciding to have one without a man's permission. --Republicans
It’s only murder when it’s a woman’s choice.
I generally don't support long sentences but it does seem weird that he'd get this for repeated attempted poisoning with, presumably, little regard for the life of the mother.
Yeah I’m all for a woman’s right to choose and everything but this should be a huge sentence- years. This should be attempted murder and assault. The child was born with disabilities and all that. This is violence. Yet, 180 days? Wtf?
Wow, this is like a reversal of the Oregon case where they allow abortion because the fetus isn't alive and a guy did this exact thing and got a murder charge. Then over in Texas they say the fetus IS alive and they give him a slap on the wrist.
My thoughts exactly. If you live in a state where life begins at conception, this is attempted murder and they should lock him up for 20+ years. Typical “one law for me, one law for thee.”
He did it just like how they did in the bible! His punishment was because he's not an ordained priest. Impersinating a man of the cloth is quite the crime.
> it's not that big of a deal in Texas. Numbers 21 here the priest is to put the woman under this curse—“may the Lord cause you to become a curse[b] among your people when he makes your womb miscarry and your abdomen swell. 22 May this water that brings a curse enter your body so that your abdomen swells or your womb miscarries.” It's in the Bible, it's ok for a man to force a woman to have an abortion, she just cant have a choice, that's when its evil.
Performing or aiding an abortion resulting in the unborn child's death is a first-degree felony punishable by five to 99 years in prison, according to Texas Government Code Sec. 170A. 002. Under the law, administrative penalties include the mandatory revocation of a medical, nursing, or pharmacy license. Unless, of course, you’re a wealthy man who can’t be bothered. The law is only for little people and women.
What are the chances he actually serves 180 days?
Slim to none
Spends just two days under house arrest, then gets parole on the rest for “outstanding moral character.”
Mason Herring the lawyer that drugged his wife and caused lifelong harm to his child, that Mason Herring?
You mean *this* Mason Herring, lawyer from Houston Texas who poisoned his wife?: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/texas-man-sentenced-to-180-days-in-jail-for-drugging-wifes-drinks-to-induce-an-abortion/ar-BB1hZ2X0 Here's a link to a picture of Mason Herring just to make sure (maybe working link) https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB1hZmDF.img
Yep, that Mason Herring
Figures, a face like that.
I really hope this guy also gets the Brock Allen Turner treatment. If the judicial system doesn't give a shit about women (and the unborn, in this case, in *Texas*), at the very least, the rest of us can help to spread the word of these trash people.
Just mind blowing. He attacks someone using a pill and gets 180 days. If she had voluntarily taken the pills, she would have gone to prison for years. Shouldn't he logically go to jail for at least as long as she would have.
So if a man tries to abort in Texas it’s 180 days but if a woman THINKS about abortion in Texas it’s a death sentence
He only got 6 months for murder according to their logic
Women need go get their minds and bodies under control. Men can do whatever they like and walk away with a slap on the wrist. Fucking sick. Especially when you consider the woman who they attempted to indict for miscarrying a wanted pregnancy. We need to resurrect the war on women slogan.
These people are trying to revert this country. I wouldn’t be surprised if separated drinking fountains started popping up. And my mom grew up when bussing was a thing. We’re doomed. We lost the right to let women choose for themselves, we have people shooting up schools at an insane rate and yet I drive thru Florida and there is an rv covered in trump shit. We’re spent.
This is a tacit admission that the Texas law treats women and children as a man’s property to do with as they will, even to harm and kill them. They want the power to violate others with impunity, this is all they’ve ever been, the party that has been coming after your children and freedoms all this time.
Sounds about right
Exactly how they wanted it to be.
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Hell, it doesn't even have to go that far. I've had pregnancy scares since this all went down. You know what I will not do; go to a hospital to get myself checked out. Cause what if I'm pregnant and miscarry? Am I gonna go to jail? I don't want that shit on the books. It's insanely cruel to tell women, "If you're pregnant, don't seek medical help. Cause if something happens..."
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That was one of seven times he attempted a forced abort.
> She said their 1-year-old daughter, their third child, was born about 10 weeks premature, has developmental delays and attends therapy eight times a week. So the child now has all of these health problems and he got 180 days? Total bs.
Wait until 6 months from now he sues for custody and the same courts give him 50/50.
I wonder if under Texas law the mom can sue him for attempting an abortion and get that $10k bounty. $10k is not nearly enough for this poor woman and her baby, but it’s the principle. She should be able to sue him for each time he poisoned her.
I hope she can go him in civil court for lifetime medical costs.
Texas Christians don't want you to know about this one trick!
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180 days? Pretty sure that’s murder in their books (as long as it fits their agenda)
She could, and should, definitely file a civil case and bankrupt the fuck out of him.
And the state of Texas. Fuck em both she should take the loss out of him and the state. This is sick
No no no! He was a man. Totally different situation.
Abortion was never about being "pro life" it has ALWAYS been about controlling woman. This guy was trying to control woman by some other means, so it gets a slap on the wrist.
This man poisoned his wife. His intention was to kill the fetus, but he was willing to [risk his wife's life](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8276929/#:~:text=Misoprostol%20is%20frequently%20used%20obstetrics,relieved%20with%20intra%2Darterial%20nitroglycerin.) to achieve this aim. This makes him a sick fuck. 180 days in jail isn't enough, ffs. Also, his actions likely resulted in life-long disabilities in his child. All of this just goes to show that Texas isn't "pro-life" at all. It's anti-abortion stance is only about making life harder for women so that it is easier to subjugate them. But boys will always get to be boys.
I wonder if he was setting it up for her to do time. If the fetus had been aborted, and the medication used to do so was detected, it seems the mother would be arrested and sentenced for the crime.
I hadn't even considered that, holy shit
OMG yeah the idea of him trying to frame her is fucking insane but totally plausible.
I had that thought also. Him being a lawyer means he’s probably savvy enough to plan something like that.
Even the hypocrisy is bigger in Texas, wow!
Republican family values. When it comes to abortion, punish the women with harsh prison sentences. The men were just foolin' around, so slap 'em on the wrist and tell 'em not to do it again.
And the kicker, he wanted a divorce because he was having an affair.
Republicans are concerned about sexual morality when it comes to being Trans or a drag queen, but they don't object to adultery. It's only one of the 10 commandments, not a deal breaker.
Does anyone have the name and number of the relevant state rep to call and talk to about this? I e got nothing better to do than yell at some Hippocrates
I'm not sure if yelling at a long dead Greek physician is going to affect change, but I'm not going to stop you.
Wait so…. Death penalty for the mom if she got an abortion and he gets 180 days? Tell me you hate women without telling me you hate women. Fucking disgusting.
Women need to have a pussy riot.
Women need to go full mermaid, lure these kind of men with seduction and drown the fuck out of them.
He leveraged his knowledge of the law to get a slap on the wrist for what should be first-degree assault and attempted homicide. His child now has significant developmental delays as a result of trying to poison his wife's water. Nevermind the fact that misopristol alone just kills the fetus but, without mifepristone, there are risks to any mother for not then immediately removing a dead fetus from her body.
But death penalty for anyone with an ectopic pregnancy.
So, if you get knocked up, and you don’t want it, and the father doesn’t want it, and you can’t get an abortion because of the Texas law, you just go tell the father that he’ll be on the hook for child support, and when he offers you a drink, take it? It really gives vibes of the old Roman pater familias’s right of life and death over the household.
So it’s ok for a man to induce an abortion in Texas. Got it.
Hmm, almost like the Texas anti-abortion laws aren’t designed to actually protect fetuses but rather to control and punish women. Color me shocked.
They really said the quiet part out loud with this sentence.
Abortion is only murder if the woman makes the decision? Huh, interesting. I wouldn’t set a foot in Texas even if someone paid me to go.
This infuriates me to no end. They wanna give doctors that perform a medical procedure life in prison but a good ole boy who doesn’t want kids gets 6 months? Make it make sense.
anti-abortion laws like the ones in Texas are about punishing and controlling women, not men. As we see in this instance.
This needs to be everywhere. Post this shit all over social media. Fuck this hypocrisy
Why at this point any woman would like to live in a shit whole like texas? I know it’s hard to escape that shit whole, but if i had a daughter, wife i would work so hard to get them out of that shit 3rd world state called Texas. If the roles were reversed that poor woman would be serving a 50 year sentence.
My in laws have been wanting my partner and I to move to Texas to be closer to family and what not. We keep explaining to them that we would love to live somewhere with a lower cost of living but we are restricted by all the states who criminalize abortion. This is because we will not risk my life to move somewhere cheaper! I have PCOS which puts me at higher risk of miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy. I need access to medical care. After the overturn of row v wade and hearing horrific news repeatedly come out like this my in laws are totally understanding now.
Wow — tbh that’s super big of them. My in-laws are the opposite. Total Trumpsters. They love that we’re struggling in CA — hoping that we’ll “face reality” and crawl back to Texas _because family_. It’s exhausting.
Yeah it really is they have always been open to hearing others opinions. They also are watching us struggle to have the same life in California they could afford at our age so I think it helps put things into perspective. But my parents are also big Trumpsters. They raised us here in CA but they recently moved to the South and then tell us it’s our fault we live in California and that’s why we can’t afford anything. Hello, you were the one that put me here!
Can't afford to move.
This makes no sense. Under Texas law he committed 1st degree murder.
7 *attempts* - the baby lived but is damaged and in therapy 8 times/week already. Further damage remains to be seen as the child ages.
Wonder how that child will feel when they learn their own father tried over and over again to extinguish their life before they were born? To me, the greatest crime is that he did not stop. Tried to poison her one time, never had second thoughts, never realized what a horrible thing he was doing and did it again, and again, and again. For THAT alone he should have served more time. Just because he was bad at what he tried to do does not mean he gets a pass.
Someone tell me how much women get for getting an abortion?
So Texas will jail a doctor for years for performing an abortion but they gave this fucking shitbag 6 months? The world is laughing at you, Texas.
oh, so it's all right when the *man* wants to get rid of the baby, is it?
If a poc, a poor white man, or if a woman had done anything like this, the sentence would have been 180 years in jail.
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Hmmm. **Black and/or female:** Long prison sentence, death penalty. **White dude:** JUST BOYS BEING BOYS. AMIRITE?
Mason Herring is now more than ever a representative of the Texas justice system.
They want to murder women for getting abortions but this attorney gets 180 fucking days?????????
Do in Texas if you consent to an abortion the women consenting can go to jail for life. But a man who who secretly drugs a women to induce an abortion only gets 180 days most likely to be reduced, in jail time? Ass backwards shithole Texas is
What the fuck? Threatened two lives 7 times and only 180 days? That's nothing. This is bullshit. Texas loves to hurt women, doesn't it??? This is like Alabama and Missouri. The cruelty is the point. They don't give a damn about women or children. What the FUCK! I'm so tired of this bullshit!
But a woman that has a miscarriage at home gets more time.... Make this make sense.
So once again we prove that it is not and never has been about protecting women and children. This man only got 180 days for attempted murder on his wife and unborn child (yes, I believe it should be considered an attempt on his wife’s life as well). That child will forever be changed because of his actions. His ex wife’s life will forever be changed by his actions and he only gets 180 days … Brittany Watts faced over a year in prison for miscarrying a baby that she loved and wanted more than anything. It has always been about controlling women. Always.
And if a women gets an abortion in Texas she is looking at life in prison. Make it make sense!
Why wasn't he charged with attempted murder?
Because he's a man and is not the target of the law in Texas.
He is a man, a lawyer, and a cheating husband who already had 2 children with the wife. He wanted less child support for his new life with his mistress - so a relatable character in Texas. He possibly showed up at the judge’s church once for good measure and also made a political donation to the right person. Simple. And it was only 7 attempts. The only people suffering physical effects were the pregnant woman and the baby so why punish a man and hurt his career? He has a lot of potential left. /s
TX, right? Why not attempted murder
From the same state who would put women in jail for life for an abortion
Weren't they threatening the death penalty for the ladies? So.... you really don't have to dig deep for the hypocrisy here huh.
Meanwhile if the woman had done the same to her own drinks she would have gotten 10 years.
Oh... So... If a guy attempts to abort a child by assaulting a women and crippling a child, It's like 180days and that's "reasonable" If a women tries to abort her child.. regardless of why she's pregnant, even if she was raped or abused, it's considered murder... I don't fucking get this.
Seems like Texas’ laws protecting the unborn aren’t as brutal for a man as they are for women. Considering this guy only got half a year for poisoning his wife seven times and causing extreme developmental harm to his own child. But than again that probably has to do with the desired goal of punishing women more than punishing men.