In a significant enforcement of Texas’s stringent abortion laws, state authorities have arrested three individuals accused of performing illegal abortions and practicing medicine without proper licensing in the Houston area. The arrests mark the first criminal charges under Texas’s near-total abortion ban, enacted following the 2022 Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
On March 6, 2025, Maria Margarita Rojas, 48, a certified midwife known as “Dr. Maria,” was arrested in Waller County. Rojas faces charges of performing illegal abortions and practicing medicine without a license. She allegedly operated multiple clinics—Clinica Waller Latinoamericana in Waller, Clinica Latinoamericana Telge in Cypress, and Latinoamericana Medical Clinic in Spring—where unlicensed individuals were employed to provide medical services, including abortion procedures.
Following Rojas’s arrest, her employee, Jose Manuel Cendan Ley, 29, was detained on March 17. Ley, a Cuban national who entered the U.S. illegally in 2022 and was later paroled, is charged with the unlawful performance of an abortion and practicing medicine without a license. He is accused of assisting Rojas in performing at least one illegal abortion and conducting other unauthorized medical procedures at the Waller clinic.
A third individual, Rubildo Labanino Matos, 54, was arrested on March 8 upon returning to the U.S. from Cuba. Matos, a nurse practitioner whose license is currently on probation by the Texas Board of Nursing, is charged with conspiracy to practice medicine without a license. He is alleged to have been involved in the operations of Rojas’s clinics, contributing to the provision of unauthorized medical services.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton emphasized the state’s commitment to enforcing its pro-life laws, stating, “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.”
Under Texas law, performing an illegal abortion is a second-degree felony, punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Practicing medicine without a license carries penalties of up to 10 years in prison and fines reaching $10,000. Additionally, the Texas Human Life Protection Act of 2021 allows for civil penalties of at least $100,000 per violation for the unlawful performance of an abortion.
The investigation into these alleged illegal medical practices is ongoing, with the Attorney General’s Office actively pursuing further enforcement actions to uphold the state’s abortion laws.
Sources:
