8 people charged in connection with clinics providing abortions illegally, Texas attorney general says
By Lauren Mascarenhas, CNN
(CNN) — Eight people allegedly connected to a Texas midwife accused of performing illegal abortions have been arrested and indicted for practicing medicine without a license, Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Wednesday.
At least one of the eight people indicted in the case is accused of illegally performing an abortion in addition to charges of practicing without a license, court documents show.
In March, Paxton brought felony charges against Houston-area midwife Maria Margarita Rojas, 49, who he says provided illegal abortions and operated multiple medical clinics without a license. Rojas was the first person charged in violation of the Texas Human Life Protection Act, according to Paxton’s office.
“We’re still working vigorously to defend Ms. Rojas because we believe she did not commit any crimes,” Rojas’ attorney, Nicole DeBorde Hochglaube, told CNN on Wednesday. “We have yet to receive any evidence that supports either of those claims.”
Hochglaube said Paxton, who referred to the defendants as a “cabal of abortion-loving radicals,” has made public statements about Rojas and the investigation designed to inflame the public and “run afoul of Texas disciplinary rules of professional conduct.”
The Center for Reproductive Rights called the case against Rojas a sham. The organization is representing Rojas in a separate civil lawsuit.
“Without any proof, Paxton went after Rojas, a licensed midwife dedicated to helping her pregnant patients. He heartlessly shut down several clinics that provided lawful, affordable services to families around Houston, most of whom were low-income, uninsured immigrants with few options for health care,” Jenna Hudson, the group’s senior counsel, told CNN in a statement.
Supporting documents were not readily available for all eight individuals named Wednesday, though some appeared on a court docket. CNN reached out to Paxton’s office and the Waller County district attorney for additional information.
Paxton emphasized in his announcement that some of the eight individuals include foreign nationals.
“It’s no coincidence that he is targeting Rojas and these clinics amid the widespread anti-immigrant sentiment nationwide. Texas health care workers deserve respect, not to be treated like criminals,” Hudson said.
Following her arrest in March, Rojas was booked into the Waller County Sheriff’s Office and released the next day, according to jail records.
The midwife was indicted on 15 felony counts in Waller County, including illegal performance of an abortion and 12 counts of practicing medicine without a license, Paxton’s office said. Her network of clinics was barred from practicing medicine as the case unfolds, it added.
Texas law, which makes no exceptions for rape or incest, allows for abortions only if a pregnant person is “at risk of death or serious physical impairment of a major bodily function unless an abortion is performed or induced.”
Providers – who risk penalties of at least $100,000, the loss of their medical licenses and prison time for violating the law – have said the uncertainty around that policy has had a chilling effect on medically necessary abortions in the state.
While state law does not allow for patients seeking abortions to be criminally prosecuted themselves, a 26-year-old Texas woman was arrested and charged with murder in 2022 after using medication to self-induce her own abortion. She spent two nights in jail before the charges were dismissed and filed suit earlier this year against Starr County and the prosecutors involved.
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CNN’s Michelle Watson contributed to this report.
