A Texas midwife has been arrested for performing illegal abortions, state Attorney General Ken Paxton said Monday. Maria Margarita Rojas, 48, faces one charge of illegally performing an abortion. Rojas was officially charged last week for practicing medicine without a license, a third-degree felony, USA Today reports. Waller County District Attorney Sean Whittmore referred the case to Paxton for prosecution. “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.
Paxton said that Rojas, who identified herself as "Dr. Maria," operates three clinics in the Houston area. She was taken into custody in Waller County, northwest of Houston. Rojas has a midwife license, which she has held since 2018. The attorney general accused Rojas of performing illegal abortions in her clinics, as well as employing people who “falsely presented themselves as licensed medical professionals to provide medical treatment.” Paxton's office said Rojas is alleged to have violated the Texas Human Life Protection Act. Apart from the charges against Rojas, Paxton is also seeking a temporary restraining order that would shut down the three clinics that Rojas operated. Holly Sherman, a midwife who runs the Tomball Birth Center where Rojas worked part-time, told the Texas Tribune that the allegations against Rojas were “shocking.” “I don’t believe it for one second,” she said. “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.”
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