Mouse Mousia Texas accused by the Attorney General of the State of providing illegal abortions

Juan A. Lozano
| Associated Press

Houston -A Texas midwife was arrested and accused of providing illegal abortions, marking for the first time that the authorities filed criminal accusations in the forecast of almost all-total abortion, the General Prosecutor of Texas, Ken Paxton, announced on Monday.

Maria Margarita Rojas was accused of the illegal performance of an abortion, a second -degree crime, as well as the practice of the medicine without a license, which is a third degree offense.

Paxton claims that Rojas, 48, illegally operated at least three clinics in the Houston area, where illegal abortion procedures were carried out for direct violation of the state law.

“In Texas, life is sacred.

The lawyer of Waller District, Sean Whittmore, whose office is located to the north -west of Houston, sent the case to Paxton for criminal prosecution, according to the State General Prosecutor.

The court records in Waller County show that Rojas was arrested on March 6 and was released the next day.

The judicial registrations did not list a lawyer for Rojas who could speak on his behalf.

A woman who reached the phone at one of the Rojas clinics said on Monday that she does not know who Rojas is. The messages left at two other clinics of Rojas were not returned immediately. On their Facebook pages, clinics are advertising various services, including physical, ultrasound and vaccines.

Texas is one of the 12 states that currently involves the ban on abortion at all stages of pregnancy. Texas prohibition allows exceptions when a pregnant patient has a condition that can endanger life. The opponents of the prohibition say that it is too vague when it comes to the medical exceptions. A draft law has been submitted in the current Texas legislative session to clarify the medical exceptions allowed under the law.

The accusation of illegal performance of an abortion has a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, while the charge of practicing medicine without license has a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

The Paxton Office said it has submitted a temporary restriction order for closing Rojas clinics.

In the US, there were few, if there, criminal charges have submitted the operation of illegal abortion clinics, since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 and opened the door for banning state abortion.

A great jury in Louisiana, earlier this year Paxton filed a civil trial against the same doctor under a similar accusation.

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The reporter Associated Press Geoff Mulvofill in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, contributed to this report.