UPDATE, March 18, 2025:
A Houston-area medical assistant and nurse practitioner were also arrested in connection to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s arrests targeting abortion providers. Jose Manuel Cendan Ley, a 29-year-old medical assistant, was arrested for allegedly helping Maria Margarita Rojas perform what Paxton called illegal abortions. Rubildo Labanino Matos, a 54-year-old nurse practitioner, was arrested and charged with “conspiracy to practice medicine without a license,” according to an announcement from Paxton’s office on Tuesday.
Paxton’s office has not clarified what type of alleged abortions were being performed or supported — medicated abortions, procedural abortions, or spontaneous abortions (miscarriages).
Reproductive justice organizations like If/When/How say they’re closely monitoring the announcement of the arrests, calling them “cruel political theater intended to scare Texans.” They remind people that data shows the state’s abortion ban has been tied to a 56% rise in maternal mortality.
“Texas abortion policies are killing people. No one should have to fear criminalization for seeking an abortion or supporting their community,” Farah Diaz-Tello, senior counsel and legal director for If/When/How told The Barbed Wire. “Though Paxton has affirmed that people may not be prosecuted for having abortions, we know people are afraid right now, especially those who may have relied on a clinic connected to today’s arrest. But you are not alone. Our Repro Legal Helpline is here if you or your loved ones need free legal support related to their abortions.”
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A Houston-area midwife was arrested on Monday for allegedly performing illegal abortion procedures, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced on Monday — the first criminal charges to be filed under Texas’ near total abortion bans.
Maria Margarita Rojas, who Paxton’s office said calls herself “Dr. Maria,” was charged with illegally providing abortions, in addition to practicing medicine without a license, according to a press release from Paxton’s office.
Rojas was detained in Waller County northwest of Houston, according to the attorney general’s office. Rojas owned and operated a network of clinics under the names Clinica Waller Latinoamericana in Waller, Clinica Latinoamericana Telge in Cypress, and Latinoamericana Medical Clinic in Spring, an investigation by Paxton’s Law Enforcement Division found.
Clinica Latinoamericana is a low-cost clinic offering a $150 annual membership that includes $10 for doctor visits and $95 for ultrasounds. Its website does not list abortion as one of its services. According to the release, the clinics allegedly hired unlicensed medical workers who presented themselves as licensed professionals. Rojas also allegedly conducted illegal abortion procedures that violated Texas’ “trigger ban,” House Bill 1280, which went into effect after the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v Jackson. Texas outlaws all abortion procedures except when a pregnant patient’s life is at risk, though Texas doctors have said there is no clarity on when they can perform abortions.
The laws include both criminal and civil penalties, as well as disciplinary action against the licensure or permit of a physician or other health care practitioner who performs, induces, or attempts an abortion in violation of the law, according to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.
The attorney general’s Healthcare Program Enforcement Division also filed for a temporary restraining order that would close Rojas’s clinics. The attorney general can seek civil penalties of “at least $100,000 per violation for the unlawful performance of an abortion,” according to the press release.
“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.”
Since the law went into effect in 2022 after the fall of Roe v Wade, data shows that more Texas mothers have died from less access to abortion care, more infants died or were abandoned, and there are fewer licensed doctors to care for pregnant patients.
Reproductive rights activists have been warning that the law would result in unwarranted arrests.
In December, Paxton filed the first-ever civil suit against an out-of-state abortion provider. Paxton alleges that New York-based abortion provider Dr. Margaret Carpenter violated Texas law by mailing or online prescribing abortion pills to Texas residents — an allegation stemming from a complaint by a man who claims to be the father of a pregnancy allegedly affected by abortion pills.
