(Bethany Blankley, The Center Square) Another eight individuals, including foreign nationals, have been indicted in connection to an illegal abortion scheme in the Houston area, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said.
Their arrests comes after a lengthy investigation by county and state authorities was launched earlier this year into several Houston area abortion facilities. Initially, three individuals were arrested including a Cuban national in the U.S. illegally, The Center Square reported.
An extensive investigation by the Attorney General’s Law Enforcement Division found that Maria Margarita Rojas, 49, of Houston, purported to be a physician and owned and operated multiple clinics where abortions were performed, authorities said.
The clinics, which are now closed, operated under the names Clinica Waller Latinoamericana in Waller, Clinica Latinoamericana Telge in Cypress, and Latinoamericana Medical Clinic in Spring, located in suburbs roughly an hour north of Houston. Another clinic was located in Katy, roughly 30 minutes outside of Houston, according to the charges.
Rojas employed unlicensed individuals at the clinics who presented themselves as licensed medical professionals and provided medical treatment in violation of state laws, according to the complaint. Elective abortions performed in these clinics violate the Texas Human Life Protection Act, which bans abortions from being performed in the state with limited medical emergency exceptions, the AG’s office alleges.
Rojas was arrested in March, taken into custody in Waller County and charged with illegally performing an abortion, a second-degree felony, and practicing medicine without a license, The Center Square reported.
Under a new Texas law, abortion providers may be criminally prosecuted on felony charges for conducting unlawful abortions. Rojas is the first person to be charged under the new law.
A Waller County grand jury indicted Rojas on 15 felony counts, including the illegal performance of an abortion, and on 12 counts of practicing medicine without a license.
As the investigation expanded, another eight people were indicted for practicing medicine without a license who authorities say worked with Rojas: Yaimara Hernandez Alvarez, Alina Valeron Leon, Dalia Coromoto Yanez, Yhonder Lebrun Acosta, Liunet Grandales Estrada, Gerardo Otero Aguero, Sabiel Bosch Gongora, and Jose Manuel Cendan Ley, according to the charges.
“This cabal of abortion-loving radicals has been running illegal clinics staffed with unlicensed individuals who endangered the very people they pretended to help,” Paxton said. “Beyond being illegal, it is evil. These dens of fake doctors will not be allowed to operate in Texas. Those responsible will be held accountable.”
Texas law also requires that all abortion-related data be reported to the state.
Since Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in July 2022 and Texas’ abortion ban went into effect in August 2022, the number of elected abortions reported to the state have been zero, according to state data.
Elective abortions performed in 2022 up until the Dobbs ruling in July 2022 totaled 17,179, according to the data, The Center Square previously reported.
Any elective abortions performed in Rojas’ clinics after August 2022 were not reported to the state, according to state abortion reporting data.
