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2w ago

Texas Indicts and Arrests Eight in Probe of Houston Midwife Accused of Illegal Abortions

The arrests extend the first criminal case brought under Texas’s Human Life Protection Act.

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WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 20: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton attends the executive order signing ceremony to reduce the size and scope of the Education Department in the East Room of the White House on March 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. The order instructs Education Secretary Linda McMahon, former head of the Small Business Administration and co-founder of the World Wrestling Entertainment, to shrink the $100 billion department, which cannot be dissolved without Congressional approval. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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Overview

  • Attorney General Ken Paxton announced eight people were indicted and arrested for allegedly practicing medicine without a license in clinics tied to Maria Margarita Rojas, saying several are foreign nationals.
  • Jose Manuel Cendan Ley faces an additional charge of providing an abortion, while the other seven defendants are charged only with unlicensed practice.
  • Waller County court records show the grand jury returned the indictments on Sept. 26, and supporting documents for all defendants are not yet fully public.
  • Rojas remains under a 15-count indictment, and court orders keep her clinics closed as related criminal and civil proceedings continue.
  • Defense attorneys and the Center for Reproductive Rights contest the state’s evidence, arguing lawful midwifery practices and nonabortion uses of misoprostol undercut the prosecution’s claims.