Eight people connected to a Texas midwife who was charged in March with performing illegal abortions and practicing medicine without a proper license were arrested and indicted in Greater Houston.
Ken Paxton, the state attorney general, said the eight people were indicted for allegedly practicing medicine without a license under the supervision of midwife Maria Margarita Rojas, his office said in a Wednesday news release.
Several of the people are foreign nationals, according to Paxton. Attorneys for the people did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday.
The lawyer for one individual said he had not yet reviewed the case and could not comment.
In a statement, the state attorney general said that "those responsible will be held accountable. I will always protect innocent life and use every tool to enforce Texas’s pro-life laws."
His office did not immediately return a request for comment on Thursday.
Rojas, 49, of Houston, was arrested in March and indicted by a Waller County grand jury on 15 felony counts, including illegally performing an abortion and 12 counts of practicing medicine without a license.
In a March 17 news release, Paxton alleged that Rojas was "illegally operating a network of clinics" in the Northwest Houston area. Court documents allege that she would be "summoned" to the clinics to perform the procedures rather than being on-site full-time. Patients allegedly paid for the service in cash, according to an arrest warrant.
Paxton said Wednesday that Rojas and her network are prohibited "from practicing medicine or performing abortions while the case proceeds."
Rojas's attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
"We’re still working vigorously to defend Ms. Rojas because we believe she did not commit any crimes," Rojas’s attorney, Nicole DeBorde Hochglaube, told CNN on Wednesday, adding that her team "have yet to receive any evidence" that supports the state's case that Rojas operated clinics without a license or provided illegal abortions.
In Texas, abortions became illegal shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. The law makes certain exceptions, such as if a physician determines that ending a pregnancy could save a pregnant person's life or prevent substantial impairment of a major bodily function.
Paxton said Rojas was the first person to be charged under the law.
