Texas Charges a Midwife in the First Arrest Under the State’s Abortion Ban

FROM THE ARTICLE

“Community healthcare workers—from midwives, to doulas, to nurses—are critical to patients in Texas, especially under these draconian abortion bans, and relied on by thousands and thousands of people to deliver safe reproductive care. While some of the details of the case remain in question, it is clear that this is an attempt to scare away the people who need abortion and those who provide them.”
Board Chair Ghazaleh Moayedi

On Monday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the arrest of Houston-area midwife Maria Margarita Rojas for allegedly providing abortion care under the state’s extreme ban and “illegally” operating a network of clinics. The 48-year-old was charged with a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison, as well as practicing medicine without a license, which could mean up to a decade in prison and fines totaling $10,000. Two of Rojas’s work colleagues, Jose Ley, 29, and Rubildo Labanino Matos, 54, a nurse practitioner, were also arrested in connection with Paxton’s investigation.