The midwife—whose name Jezebel has chosen not to publish—was reportedly arrested at gunpoint in March, on orders from the state’s good-for-nothing Attorney General Ken Paxton. At the time, Paxton alleged she performed illegal abortions in the state and employed people who falsely claimed they were licensed medical professionals. Two of her employees were arrested earlier this year: one for assisting with procedures, the other for allegedly conspiring to practice medicine without a valid license.
It’s the first time the attorney general’s office has alleged that Rojas performed a successful abortion. The criminal complaint released in March referred to two women who an anonymous tipster claimed received abortions from Rojas, but so far they have not been connected to any criminal cases.
The midwife’s legal team claims Paxton—who’s running for Senate in 2026—is “grasping at straws.” According to them, the evidence to prove she even provided an abortion is lacking, and the dosage of medication that was referenced in the original citation is not enough to actually terminate a pregnancy. At a hearing in March, a senior counsel at the Center of Reproductive Rights also said the investigation was rife with “complete shoddiness and lack of thoroughness,” adding that the arrest affidavit was full of “conjecture,” “wild conclusions,” and “rank speculation.”
The midwife is the first person to be criminally charged since Texas enacted its near-total abortion ban after Roe was overturned. She and one of the arrested employees were previously held on $500,000 bonds for performing an illegal abortion and $200,000 for the medical license charges. The state’s ban threatens abortion providers with a $100,000 fine and life in prison.
Paxton got his original injunction after investigators stalked her clinics for months and eventually secured a complaint from a patient who said the midwife had given her misoprostol (the second pill in the two-pill medication abortion regimen) and portrayed herself as an OB-GYN. He then shuttered three of her clinics, which remain closed.
Jezebel has reached out to Paxton’s office for comment and will let you know if we hear back.
Midwives have been an essential force in bridging America’s gaping health disparities, and could help to improve access to abortion care, especially in states where the procedure is banned. “Integrating advanced practice clinicians (APCs), who are nonphysician clinical care professionals such as certified nurse–midwives, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants, into abortion care can help expand and increase access to this essential care,” the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists writes on its website.
While the midwife’s indictment is the first, it’s unlikely to be the last. As ever, Ken Paxton rot in hell challenge.
