Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Comment
Arwa Mahdawi

Arrested at gunpoint, charged as a felon: a midwife’s lot in anti-abortion Texas

Abortion rights demonstrators attend a rally at the Texas state capitol in Austin, Texas, in 2022.
Abortion rights demonstrators attend a rally at the Texas state capitol in Austin, Texas, in 2022. Photograph: Eric Gay/AP

The abortion arrests have started

Texas is a fairly decent place to be an armadillo (they’re the official state small mammal) and an increasingly dire place to be a woman. In 2021, it implemented a near-total abortion ban: the most radical abortion law in the US. Now it’s going even further in its crusade to outlaw abortion. On Monday, the Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, announced the first criminal charges under Texas’s abortion ban. Maria Margarita Rojas, a licensed midwife, was charged with the illegal performance of an abortion and with practicing medicine without a license, according to a press release from Paxton’s office. Her employee Jose Ley was also charged.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.