A Houston-area midwife has been arrested on allegations she performed illegal abortions, the first criminal charges brought under the state’s near-total abortion ban, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Monday.
Maria Margarita Rojas, 48, was charged with the illegal performance of an abortion, as well as practicing medicine without a license, according to Paxton.
Rojas, who identified herself as “Dr. Maria,” operated a network of clinics in Waller, Cypress and Spring. According to Paxton’s news release, the clinics “unlawfully employed unlicensed individuals who falsely presented themselves as licensed medical professionals.”
Rojas also allegedly provided illegal abortion procedures at these clinics, a second-degree felony that comes with up to 20 years in prison.
Waller County District Attorney Sean Whittmore told The Texas Tribune that Paxton’s office brought the case to his attention. The Office of the Attorney General does not have independent prosecutorial authority in Texas, but Whittmore, a former assistant attorney general, said he has invited the state to handle the prosecution. Whittmore said more charges against Rojas are expected in the coming days, and the case will next go to a grand jury to consider indictment.
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Calls to Rojas’ clinics were not immediately answered Monday. Holly Shearman, a midwife who runs Tomball Birth Center, where Rojas worked part-time providing prenatal care, said she was “shocked” by the news of her arrest. She described Rojas as a devout Catholic and skilled midwife whose clinics provided health care to a primarily Spanish-speaking, low-income community.
“I don’t believe it for one second,” she said about the allegations. “I’ve known her for eight years and I’ve never heard her talk about anything like that. I just can’t picture Maria being involved in something like this.”
We don’t know a whole lot right now – as of yesterday afternoon, both this story and the Chron story had a note at the end saying this was developing and would be updated. I’m with Holly Shearman but until we do know more that’s mostly a statement of faith. On that score, I also agree with what Jessica Valenti says.
You cannot trust any information coming from Paxton’s office or Texas law enforcement. Paxton and Texas Republicans will be working overtime to paint Rojas as a villain, regardless of the truth. They know that abortion bans are incredibly unpopular, as is arresting healthcare providers. They’re not just fighting a legal battle here, but a PR one.
Consider what happened when Paxton filed a civil suit against New York abortion provider Dr. Maggie Carpenter: His office falsely claimed that the woman Carpenter sent abortion medication to suffered “serious complications” despite providing no evidence. There’s every reason to believe Paxton’s team will pull similar tactics here, coming out with all sorts of claims about this midwife and her practice.
So please pause before sharing information about this case. Right now, almost all available details are coming from Paxton or law enforcement, meaning early media coverage will overwhelmingly reflect the state’s framing. Be careful and deliberate about the sources you amplify.
And remember: The media gets abortion stories wrong all the time. When a Nebraska teenager was arrested for self-managing her abortion, national outlets falsely reported that she had sent a Facebook message about “how she can’t wait to get the ‘thing’ out of her body.” That quote wasn’t hers—it was something a police officer said—but the line got reprinted again and again in an attempt to make the young woman seem as callous as possible.
Something similar happened when Brittany Watts was arrested in Ohio for ‘abuse of a corpse’ after having a miscarriage. Local news stories framed her as indifferent to her pregnancy loss. Misogyny, racism, and classism all play a role in the way these cases are talked about and covered.
That’s why it’s so important we remember how abortion criminalization operates: Who gets targeted in these cases is no accident. The Texas Tribune reports, for example, that Rojas’ clinics “provided health care to a primarily Spanish-speaking, low-income community.”
Paxton, a political operator who picks cases strategically, likely chose Rojas because he believes Americans won’t find her sympathetic—whether due to racism, classism, or the stories his office plans to spin. That’s what’s happening in Louisiana, where prosecutors have arrested a mother they say ‘coerced’ her teenager into having an abortion. (Tellingly, they didn’t charge with her ‘coercion,’ just abortion.)
In other words: Republicans are strategically targeting people they think the public won’t rally behind. Let’s make sure to prove them wrong.
Duly noted. Stay skeptical and wait to see what the charges actually allege and what the defense has to say.
UPDATE: A later version of the Chron story reports that a second person was also arrested and is “expected to face the same charges as Rojas”.