AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A second person has been arrested in connection to a Texas midwife who is accused of providing illegal abortions at a network of clinics operated outside of the Houston area.
Jose Manuel Cendan Ley, a 29-year-old medical assistant, is accused of performing an illegal abortion and practicing without a license at a clinic in connection to Maria Margarita Rojas whose arrest was announced Monday by Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Court records show Ley was arrested on March 6, released on bond a few days later, then arrested again Monday.
Rojas, 48, was also charged with providing an illegal abortion and practicing medicine without a license, which are second- and third-degree felonies. She is accused of operating three clinics northwest of Houston that performed illegal abortion procedures. Her arrest signified the first time authorities have filed criminal charges under the state’s near-total abortion ban.
The attorney general's office is alleging that Ley worked as a medical assistant at one of Rojas’ three clinics and performed at least one abortion illegally. In an announcement on Tuesday, the office states that Ley is a Cuban national who entered the U.S. illegally in 2022 and was later placed on parole. Rubildo Labanino Matos, 54, was also arrested in connection to the investigation for practicing medicine without a license, according to Paxton's office.
“Individuals killing unborn babies by performing illegal abortions in Texas will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, and I will not rest until justice is served,” Paxton said in a statement. “I will continue to fight to protect life and work to ensure that anyone guilty of violating our state’s pro-life laws is held accountable.”
Court records did not list an attorney for Ley or Rojas who could comment on their behalf.
Those convicted of performing an illegal abortion can face up to 20 years in prison, while practicing medicine without a license carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison.
Texas law bans an abortion at all stages of a pregnancy and only allows exceptions when a patient has a life-threatening condition, making it one of the strictest abortion bans in the nation. Opponents of the ban say it is too vague when defining allowable medical exceptions. A state lawmaker has filed a bill that aims to clarify when medical exceptions are allowed under the law.
Earlier this year, a Louisiana grand jury indicted a New York doctor on charges that she illegally prescribed abortion pills online to a Louisiana resident. Paxton has filed a civil lawsuit against the doctor under a similar accusation.
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Lathan is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Nadia Lathan, The Associated Press
