A Texas midwife has been arrested on accusations of providing illegal abortions, becoming the first person to be criminally charged under the state’s near-total abortion ban.
Maria Margarita Rojas, 48, is accused of operating at least three clinics in the Houston area, where she provided medical care, including abortions, in direct violation of the Lone Star State’s restrictive and controversial laws.
Rojas was arrested on March 6 and released on bond the next day, according to Waller County District Attorney Sean Whittmore, who has since referred the case to the state attorney general’s office.
Rojas is facing a pair of counts in connection with the allegations, including the illegal performance of an abortion and practicing medicine without a license, the former of which is a second-degree felony, the office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced.
If convicted, Rojas will serve between two and 20 years in prison and be subject to a fine of $10,000, per state law. However, Paxton’s office noted that he has the authority to seek a fine of at least $100,000 “per violation” under the Texas Human Life Protection Act of 2021.
Paxton’s office said it had also filed a temporary restraining order to close Rojas’ clinics.
“In Texas, life is sacred,” Paxton said in a statement. “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.”
In 2022, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, clearing the way for state-by-state bans and the erasure of a guaranteed reproductive right that had been in place for decades. Since then, there have been few criminal charges issued in connection with the more restrictive regulations, making Rojas one of the first in the nation.
Earlier this year, a New York doctor was indicted on charges that she illegally prescribed abortion pills online to a patient in Louisiana.
With news Wire Services