Performing an abortion in Texas became a felony after the 2021 repeal of Roe v. Wade triggered HB 1280, the Human Life Protection Act. The law bans abortions after six weeks and places strict restrictions inside that window.
Maria Rojas, a Houston-based midwife, was the first person charged under the new law.
Last March, Paxton’s office accused Rojas, along with her staff, of providing abortions in her Houston-area clinics. Paxton sought injunctions which stopped her from practicing medicine and from her clinics operating.
The lower court originally ruled in Paxton’s favor, but last Thursday the 15th Court of Appeals reversed that decision.
Casey Murray, a state politics reporter at the Houston Chronicle, said it’s unclear what this development means for Rojas and her team.
“The actual justice that may bring her is not yet complete, and her criminal case is still ongoing,” said Murray.
The Center for Reproductive Rights, which is defending Rojas, said in a statement that her clinics are unlikely to re-open because they’ve been out of operation for more than a year.
“The state will still hear out these claims that she allegedly provided abortions. But it does mean in the meantime, she no longer has this hanging over her head,” Murray said. “She can now practice midwifery if she wants to, so she’s cleared a little bit professionally.”
Republican judges, all appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott, comprise the appeals court. Murray said that carries some implications about the future of the case.
“We get a little preview of what evidence may come in the later trial,” she said. “In the criminal case, the judge made some pretty strong statements, saying that the lower court actually abused its privileges of granting injunction in the first place. We don’t know officially if more evidence will come out in the criminal trial, but the judge definitely felt there was not enough to reasonably restrict Maria Rojas’ professional rights.”
Rojas’ clinics are partly accused of using abortion medications. Murray notes that those medications have many legal uses, such as the treatment of miscarriages, even after the passage of HB 1280.
“I would definitely imagine this continues to be an area of medicine that providers and patients feel anxiety around,” Murray said. “Are clinics using medication for legal uses in the state at risk if they provide those services? That’s something that we’ve seen with the abortion ban when the Legislature passed clarifying laws attempting to empower doctors to make those tough decisions without fear of legal repercussion.”
“It’s very clearly an area of developing law,” said Murray.
Rojas will continue to litigate in court.
