PUBLISHER'S NOTE: In recent years, I have taken on the theme of 'criminalizing reproduction' - a natural theme for a Blog concerned with flawed science in its myriad forms - as I am utterly appalled by the current movement in the United States (and some other countries) emboldened by the overturning of Roe V Wade, towards imprisoning and conducting surveillance on women and their physicians and others who help them secure a safe abortion, on the basis of sham science (or any other basis). I can’t remember the source, but agree totally with the sentiment that control over their reproductive lives is far too important to women in America - or anywhere else - so they can participate equally in the economic and social life of their nations without fear for loss their freedom at the hands of political opportunists and fanatics. (Far too many of those those around these days.) '
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY: "ABC News has also reached out to the attorney representing Rojas in the criminal case. Hearron said the case against Rojas is significant because it marks the first time a provider has been criminally charged in Texas for violating the state's abortion ban. He accused Paxton's office of conducting a "shoddy" investigation and said Rojas was using the abortion drug misoprostol to provide miscarriage care."
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SECOND QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Hearron said the effects of the investigation and of the charges have been devastating on Rojas. "I think this is a politically motivated case and the effect has been to completely upend my client's life," Hearron said. "She was arrested twice. She was held in jail for 10 days and had to post this exorbitant $1.4 million bond. She's now out, but she's got to wear an ankle monitor. There are extreme restrictions on her travel. Her midwifery license has been temporarily suspended pending the outcome of the criminal proceedings, which could take years.
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STORY: "Texas court to hear appeal in case of midwife accused of violating state abortion ban," by Reporter Mary Kekatos, published by ABC News, on February 19, 2026.
SUB-HEADING: "Maria Margarita Rojas is also facing criminal charges."
SUB-HEADING: "How post-Roe Texas abortion law has been put into practice."
A Texas appeals court will hear arguments on Thursday in a civil lawsuit brought against a woman accused by the state of illegally providing abortions in the Houston area.
GIST: "Maria Margarita Rojas allegedly provided abortions in violation of the state's abortion ban and was practicing medicine without a license at a network of clinics in northwestern Houston, according to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Last year, a lower court in Waller County issued an injunction against Rojas and the three clinics at which she worked, causing them to shut down.
The Center for Reproductive Rights is currently asking the appellate court to reverse that decision.
Meanwhile, prosecutors have also accused Rojas of violating the state's abortion ban and charged her with a first-degree felony that carries a potential sentence of up to life in prison.
"[Paxton] is accusing our client of basically operating abortion clinics, which the problem is that the allegations just aren't true and we think that the state completely failed to prove or show that any abortions were happening or that any unlawful practice was happening at the clinics," Marc Hearron, interim associate director of litigation with the CRR, who is representing Rojas in the civil case, told ABC News.
ABC News has also reached out to the attorney representing Rojas in the criminal case.
Hearron said the case against Rojas is significant because it marks the first time a provider has been criminally charged in Texas for violating the state's abortion ban.
He accused Paxton's office of conducting a "shoddy" investigation and said Rojas was using the abortion drug misoprostol to provide miscarriage care.
In January 2025, an anonymous complaint was filed with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, alleging that two abortions were performed at one of Rojas' clinics, according to the appellate brief.
The Medicaid Fraud Division within Paxton's office began investigating, with one investigator claiming to find a pill bottle of the drug misoprostol, according to the complaint. While misoprostol can be used as part of a two-drug combination to induce an abortion, it is also used to treat first-trimester miscarriages.
In filing an appeal, Rojas' attorneys argued that mifepristone, the drug given with misoprostol to induce an abortion, was never found by investigators, nor were tools found that would be used in a surgical abortion.
They also alleged the state investigators had no "medical training or expertise" to know what misoprostol could be used for and did not consult with a medical expert during the investigation.
Hearron said the effects of the investigation and of the charges have been devastating on Rojas.
"I think this is a politically motivated case and the effect has been to completely upend my client's life," Hearron said. "She was arrested twice. She was held in jail for 10 days and had to post this exorbitant $1.4 million bond. She's now out, but she's got to wear an ankle monitor. There are extreme restrictions on her travel. Her midwifery license has been temporarily suspended pending the outcome of the criminal proceedings, which could take years."
He added that the proceedings have also affected the predominantly Spanish-speaking, low-income, uninsured patients who relied on care from Rojas and her clinics.
"People who relied on Mrs. Rojas for midwifery care -- she delivered babies," Hearron said. "She was a caring, devoted midwife who delivered babies and provided care to her patients, and now her patients can't turn to her. So this has been devastating."
According to a press release last year from Paxton, Rojas is a midwife known as "Dr. Maria." She allegedly owned and operated multiple clinics, including Clinica Waller Latinoamericana in Waller, Clinica Latinoamericana Telge in Cypress and Latinoamericana Medical Clinic in Spring -- all in the northwest Houston area.
Rojas is accused of performing "illegal abortion procedures" in her clinics, which allegedly violated the Texas Human Life Protection Act, the attorney general's office said.
Abortions are banned in Texas except in limited, exception cases if the woman has a life-threatening condition or is at risk of "substantial impairment of a major bodily function."
In the limited exceptions when abortion is allowed, patients are required to make two trips, one for an in-person counseling session and then 24 hours later for the abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that focuses on sexual and reproductive health
Paxton's office did not immediately return ABC News' request for comment.
In the limited exceptions when abortion is allowed, patients are required to make two trips, one for an in-person counseling session and then 24 hours later for the abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that focuses on sexual and reproductive health
Paxton's office did not immediately return ABC News' request for comment."
The entire story can be read at:
https://abcnews.com/Health/texas-court-hear-appeal-case-midwife-accused-violating/story?id=130260004PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments.
The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith.
FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
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