Texas Midwife Faces State Accusations Over Illegal Abortions

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said on Monday that a midwife in Texas has been arrested for providing illegal abortions. This is the first time criminal charges have been filed under the state’s nearly total abortion ban.

Maria Margarita Rojas was charged with illegally performing an abortion. This is a second-degree crime, and practicing medicine without a medical license is a third-degree crime.

Paxton claims that Rojas (48) illegally operated three clinics in Houston where illegal abortion procedures in violation of state laws were performed.

“In Texas, life is sacred. I will always do everything in my power to protect the unborn, defend our state’s pro-life laws, and work to ensure that unlicensed individuals endangering the lives of women by performing illegal abortions are fully prosecuted,” Paxton said in a statement. “Texas law protecting life is clear, and we will hold those who violate it accountable.”

According to the Attorney General’s Office, Waller County District Attorney Sean Whittmore referred the case for prosecution to Paxton.

According to Waller County court documents, Rojas was detained on 6 March and released the following day on bail.

In the court records, Rojas’s attorney was not listed.

One woman who answered the phone in one of Rojas’s clinics on Monday said she didn’t know Rojas. Rojas did not respond to messages left at his two other clinics. The clinics’ Facebook pages advertise a variety of services including ultrasounds, physical exams, and vaccines.

Texas is currently one of twelve states that ban abortions at any stage of pregnancy. Texas allows for exceptions to the ban when a patient is pregnant and has a serious condition. The ban’s opponents say that it is vague in terms of when exceptions for medical reasons are permitted. In the current Texas legislative sessions, a bill was filed to clarify the medical exceptions that are allowed by law.

The punishment for illegal abortion is up to 20 years in prison, while the penalty for practicing medicine without a license is up to 10 years in prison.

Paxton’s Office said that it had filed a temporary injunction to close Rojas clinics.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Roe v. Wade invalid in 2022 and allowed state abortion bans, few criminal charges have been filed against the illegal operation of abortion clinics.

Earlier this year, a Louisiana grand jury indicted a New York doctor for allegedly prescribing abortion pills illegally online to a Louisiana woman. Paxton filed a civil suit against the same doctor on a similar charge.