A Texas grand jury has indicted a husband accused of putting an abortion drug in his wife’s drinks in hopes of terminating her pregnancy. Mason Herring, a 38-year-old Houston attorney, was charged with two felonies, including assault on a pregnant person, in indictments handed up last week by a Harris County grand jury. Court records show he was initially arrested in May and released on $30,000 bail. Nicholas Norris, Herring’s attorney, 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 in March her husband began lecturing her about hydration and offering her water. She said she became very ill and after drinking from the first cup that appeared cloudy, which her husband reportedly explained was possibly the result of the dirty cup or water pipes. Herring’s wife became suspicious, according to court records, and began refusing several more drinks offered by her husband. He said he later found in the garbage package a drug containing misoprostol, a drug used to induce an 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 several times in text messages that he was unhappy about the pregnancy. A spokesman for the Harris County District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. Herring was also charged with assault for attempted abortion.
