Texas midwife accused of providing illegal abortions, running clinics

A Texas midwife was arrested Monday for allegedly providing illegal abortions and unlawfully operating a network of clinics in the Houston area.

Maria Margarita Rojas, 48, is now facing criminal charges for practicing medicine without a license and illegally performing an abortion, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

“Texas law protecting life is clear, and we will hold those who violate it accountable,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) said in a statement.

Under the Texas Human Life Protection Act of 2021, Paxton is also authorized to seek civil penalties of up to $100,000 per violation for the unlawful performance of an abortion.

The Lone Star State is one of 12 that has an overarching ban on abortions at all stages of pregnancy. The ban allows for exceptions in the cases of medical emergencies that endanger the mother’s life.

Texas law holds abortion providers, not patients, criminally responsible for unlawful procedures, according to Paxton’s release. 

A similar case was heard by a Louisiana grand jury in January, leading to the indictment of a New York doctor for allegedly sending abortion medication into the state. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill (R) has pushed for the physician to be extradited, a request New York officials have rejected.

Rojas’s case is one of the first to challenge the illegal operation of abortion clinics since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.