A midwife has been arrested and charged after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton alleged she performed abortions illegal under that state’s law, marking the first criminal charges brought under its near-total abortion ban.
Paxton’s office said March 17 that Maria Margarita Rojas, 48, a Houston-area midwife known as “Dr. Maria,” was charged with performing abortions illegally in violation of state restrictions and for practicing medicine without a license.
“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.”
Texas’ law, which restricts abortion after six weeks gestation unless a woman’s life is in danger, is among the strictest abortion laws in the country. It was passed after the June 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned the high court’s previous abortion precedent in cases including Roe v. Wade.
In a press release, Paxton’s office said the law “holds abortion providers – not patients – criminally responsible for unlawful procedures.”
Paxton announced two additional arrests under the law on March 18.
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