A midwife is among individuals who are the first to be charged under currrent laws in Texas for performing illegal abortions as the state vigorously enforces its near-total ban on abortion.
Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the arrest of midwife Maria Margarita Rojas, 48, on Monday for “providing illegal abortions and illegally operating a network of clinics in the Northwest Houston area.” Rojas’ facilities are located in the Houston suburbs of Cypress, Waller and Spring.
Rojas was charged with the illegal performance of an abortion, which is a second-degree felony, and practicing medicine without a license. She faces fines of up to $100,000 per infraction and a potential life sentence. Rojas was taken into custody in Waller County.
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“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.”
In Texas, abortions are only legal when the mother is at risk of dying or “substantial impairment of a major bodily function.” The state says it will only prosecute providers, not women who undergo the abortions.
Investigators say they uncovered Rojas’ operation of three clinics where unlicensed professionals illegally performed abortions in violation of the Texas Human Life Protection Act of 2021. The Healthcare Program Enforcement Division in Paxton’s office is also seeking a temporary restraining order to shut down the clinic network.
Paxton announced additional arrests in connection with his office’s investigation of Rojas’ network of clinics in a follow-up statement Tuesday. Illegal immigrant and Cuban national Jose Manuel Cendan Ley, 29, was arrested Monday for the “unlawful performance of an abortion and the unlicensed practice of medicine.” Ley worked at one of Rojas’ clinics and was determined to have assisted the midwife in performing at least one illegal abortion.
A third individual, 54-year-old nurse practitioner Rubildo Labanino Matos, was arrested on March 8 in connection with the investigation. Matos, whose license is currently on probation by the Board of Nursing, faces a charge of conspiracy to practice medicine without a license.
“Individuals killing unborn babies by performing illegal abortions in Texas will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, and I will not rest until justice is served,” Paxton said. “I will continue to fight to protect life and work to ensure that anyone guilty of violating our state’s pro-life laws is held accountable.”
Pro-life activist organizations praised Paxton’s prosecution of Rojas.
“The pro-life state of Texas is serious about safeguarding mothers and their babies,” asserted Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser in a statement released Thursday.
“Texas law, like every other pro-life law in the country, protects pregnant women’s ability to receive life-saving care in a medical emergency. There is no excuse for illegal abortions that take the life of the baby and put women’s lives at risk, committed by people who don’t even have a medical license.”
Marc Hearron, interim associate director of litigation at the Center for Reproductive Rights, accused Texas officials of “trying every which way to terrify health care practitioners from providing care and to trap Texans.”
“Their ultimate goal is to end abortion access for all Texans entirely — and they will throw people in jail to get there,” Hearron told The Washington Post in a statement.
Paxton released an advisory opinion following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organizationruling that determined that the U.S. Constitution does not contain a right to abortion. He wrote that the Texas Human Life Protection Act of 2021 “prohibits abortions in most circumstances and takes effect on the 30th day” following any decision that overturns the Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.
Under the law, a person “may not knowingly perform, induce, or attempt an abortion.” The measure includes a provision that allows the performance of abortions in cases where the life of the mother is at risk.
Texas is one of several states where near-total abortion bans have gone into place following the 2022 Dobbs decision.
According to data compiled by Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, the others are Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, West Virginia and Wyoming. Four additional states, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, and South Carolina, prohibit abortions after six weeks of gestation, while Nebraska and North Carolina have a 12-week ban in effect.
Arizona bans abortions after 15 weeks gestation. Abortion restrictions passed in several states are currently tied up in litigation: North Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
