Attorney General Ken Paxton has announced the arrest of multiple people involved in providing illegal abortions within the Houston area.
The first arrest took place on Monday when police took Maria Margarita Rojas, 48, into custody in Waller County. Rojas, a midwife known as “Dr. Maria,” is accused of illegally performing abortions at a network of clinics in the northwest Houston area, including Clinica Waller Latinoamericana in Waller, Clinica Latinoamericana Telge in Cypress and Latinoamericana Medical Clinic in Spring, according to a press release from Paxton.
Rojas is charged with the unlawful performance of an abortion, a second-degree felony, as well as practicing medicine without a license. The charges stem from an initial investigation by the Attorney General’s Law Enforcement Division, which found that Rojas was operating unlicensed clinics that employed unqualified staff members posing as licensed professionals.
Following her arrest, the Attorney General’s office sought a temporary restraining order to shut down Rojas’s clinics, ensuring that no more illegal abortions could be performed at any of the locations. Under the Texas Human Life Protection Act of 2021, the unlawful performance of an abortion can result in civil penalties of at least $100,000 per violation.
The crackdown continued, with the arrest of Jose Manuel Cendan Ley, 29, who now stands accused of assisting Rojas in performing at least one illegal abortion. A subsequent release from Paxton’s office states that Ley, a Cuban national who entered the country illegally in 2022, was working as a listed ‘medical assistant’ at Clinica Waller Latinoamericana with Rojas.
Additionally, a third person, Rubildo Labanino Matos, 54, was arrested earlier this month in connection to the case. Matos, a nurse practitioner whose medical license is currently on probation, has been charged with conspiracy to practice 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.
These recent arrests are part of a larger effort by the Attorney General’s office to enforce the state’s Human Life Protection Act, which restricts most abortions in Texas. Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Texas lawmakers passed the abortion ban, allowing for only a few exceptions, such as when the mother’s life is at risk. The law also holds abortion providers, not patients, criminally responsible for unlawful abortion procedures, in addition to civil penalties.
“Individuals killing unborn babies by performing illegal abortions in Texas will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, and I will not rest until justice is served,” Paxton added. “I will continue to fight to protect life and work to ensure that anyone guilty of violating our state’s pro-life laws is held accountable.”