His wife, who has filed for divorce, told the court the jail sentence was not long enough.

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.

    • XhieronEnglish
      19•11 months ago

      This is actually a really fascinating text, historically and theologically. Whether you’re religious or not, the society that produced this text–like our society–had an interest in preserving families. It did not want bastards who would be dependent on community resources. So it enlisted the priests to superstition away jealous husbands. Are you just so sure she’s a cheating whore? Well have her drink this magic poison, and if she is she’ll never have kids! Spooky. If she’s not, then nothing happens. And if she’s pregnant, you’re now game theorying with your worldview: are you about to risk killing your own baby in an effort to kill a bastard? Better tread lightly, sirs!

      I suspect (admittedly with no evidence) that this resulted in the intentionally high burden of proof for adultery being honored more consistently, and on a large scale, it probably meant more insecure husbands reared families, more women were not subject to the draconian penalties arising out of their pseudo-property status, and priests could push families to remain stable.

      • @shalafiEnglish
        3•11 months ago

        Interesting how many biblical rules are centered on family cohesion in a tribal setting.

        Take the superstition out and look at the context and many proscriptions make sense. Shellfish goes bad fast, pork my carry parasites, etc.