Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has announced the arrest of a midwife who allegedly operated several clinics that provided abortions against state law.

A state law prohibiting almost all abortions took effect in 2022 and provides civil and criminal penalties for those who perform the procedures. The person receiving the abortion is “rarely” punished under this law, according to the Texas State Law Library.

Paxton on Monday accused Maria Margarita Rojas, 48, of owning and operating several medical clinics across the state that “employed unlicensed individuals who falsely presented themselves as licensed medical professionals to provide medical treatment.” Those clinics allegedly offered abortion services, violating the Texas Human Life Protection Act.

Rojas was charged with “the illegal performance of an abortion,” a second-degree felony, and practicing medicine without a license.

“In Texas, life is sacred,” Paxton said. “I will always do everything in my power to protect the unborn, defend our state’s pro-life laws, and work to ensure that unlicensed individuals endangering the lives of women by performing illegal abortions are fully prosecuted. Texas law protecting life is clear, and we will hold those who violate it accountable.”

Paxton also filed a temporary restraining order to shut down Rojas’s clinics. He added the Texas Human Life Protection Act allows him to seek penalties of $100,000 per illegal abortion performed.

Reacting to the news was Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.

“Republicans are making our worst fears a reality,” she wrote on X. “A midwife in Texas could face life in prison for performing an abortion. This is what women and providers are forced to endure since Trump’s Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Cruel. Inhumane. We won’t stop fighting back.”

Hochul notably blocked Paxton’s extradition request last year in his lawsuit against a New York doctor. The attorney general argued the doctor had mailed abortion medication to Texas in violation of state law.

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