Texas Midwife, 2 Clinic Employees Charged in Illegal Abortion Case

Abortion is largely prohibited in Texas, except in extreme circumstances to save the life of a pregnant woman.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks at a news conference on the U.S. Southern Border and President Joe Biden’s immigration policies, in the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington, on May 12, 2021. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

A midwife and two clinic workers have been arrested in Texas and charged with illegally performing abortions, in the first such prosecutions since the state enacted some of the nation’s toughest abortion restrictions more than two years ago.

Midwife Maria Margarita Rojas, the owner and operator of a network of clinics in the Northwest Houston area, was charged with illegally performing an abortion, as well as practicing medicine without a license, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced on Monday.