Paxton files first criminal charges for alleged violation of Texas' abortion restrictions

(OSV News) -- 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.

Jennifer Allmon, executive director of the Texas bishops' conference, the public policy arm of the Catholic bishops in that state, told OSV News, “These arrests demonstrate that the Human Life Protection Act is functioning exactly as it should, holding those who provide illegal abortions accountable."

"We thank Waller County District Attorney Sean Whittmore and Attorney General Ken Paxton for their work to protect human life and hold accountable those who violate our laws to protect unborn children," Allmon said.

Kimberlyn Schwartz, director of media and communication for Texas Right to Life, said in a statement to OSV News, "Abortionists haven't gone away in Texas; they've gone online and underground."

"Preborn babies killed in illegal abortions deserve justice," she said. "We're thankful for Attorney General Ken Paxton's work to enforce our pro-life laws. Join Texas Right to Life in praying for repentance for Maria Rojas as the truth of this case is exposed."

Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., whose administration is sparing with Texas over Paxton's lawsuit concerning a New York-based doctor for prescribing abortion pills to a woman near Dallas, wrote in a post on X that "Republicans are making our worst fears a reality: A midwife in Texas could face life in prison for performing an abortion."

"This is what women and providers are forced to endure since Trump’s Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade," she said. "Cruel. Inhumane. We won’t stop fighting back."

The Catholic Church teaches that all human life is sacred from conception to natural death, and as such, opposes direct abortion.

After the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs vs. Jackson Women's Health Organization in June 2022, church officials in the U.S. have reiterated the church's concern for both mother and child and called to strengthen available support for those living in poverty or other causes that could increase the likelihood of abortion.