(The Center Square) – Three Houston area abortion facilities have been temporarily closed after an investigation and legal action was taken by county and state authorities involving the arrest of three individuals including a Cuban national in the U.S. illegally.
Midwife Maria Margarita Rojas was arrested Monday for allegedly providing abortions and operating a network of clinics in the Northwest Houston area in violation of state laws. She was taken into custody in Waller County and charged with illegally performing an abortion, a second-degree felony, and practicing medicine without a license, The Center Square reported.
On Tuesday, two more individuals were arrested who allegedly worked with Rojas. Jose Manuel Cendan Ley, 29, was arrested and charged with unlawfully performing an abortion and practicing medicine without a license. Ley, a Cuban national, illegally entered the U.S. in 2022 and instead of being removed was released into the U.S. by the Biden administration.
Another Cuban national, Rubildo Labanino Matos, 54, was arrested after returning to the U.S. from Cuba. Matos, a nurse practitioner, was charged with conspiracy to practice medicine without a license; her license is currently on probation by the Board of Nursing.
An extensive investigation by the Attorney General’s Law Enforcement Division found that Rojas owned and operated multiple clinics under the names Clinica Waller Latinoamericana in Waller, Clinica Latinoamericana Telge in Cypress, and Latinoamericana Medical Clinic in Spring, according to the AG’s office. The clinics are located in suburbs roughly an hour north of Houston.
The facilities employed unlicensed individuals who presented themselves as licensed medical professionals to provide medical treatment in violation of state laws, according to the complaint. Rojas also allegedly performed illegal abortions in her clinics, directly violating Texas’ Texas Human Life Protection Act, which bans abortions from being performed in the state with some exceptions, the AG’s office alleges.
By Wednesday, a district court judge granted Attorney General Ken Paxton’s request to issue a temporary restraining order shutting down operations at Clinica Waller Latinoamericana in Waller, Clinica Latinoamericana Telge in Cypress, and Latinoamericana Medical Clinic in Spring. A temporary injunction hearing is scheduled for March 27.
“This is a critical win in our fight to uphold Texas law, protect the unborn, and protect all Texans from dangerous clinics practicing medicine without a license,” Paxton said. “Rojas and her network of illegal clinics operated with blatant disregard for the law, putting people’s lives at risk.”
The TRO prevents all three clinics from providing any medical services or abortions, effectively closing them. Texas law holds abortion providers – not patients – criminally responsible for performing abortions.
Paxton’s office is prosecuting the case after Waller County District Attorney Sean Whittmore referred the case to his office.
Because of Texas’ abortion ban, the Texas’ Human Life Protection Act, zero elective abortions were reported in Texas from August 2022 through October 2024, according to state data. Elective abortions performed in 2022 up until the Dobbs ruling in July 2022 totaled 17,179, according to the data, The Center Square reported.
Since the number of elected abortions reported to the state were zero since Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in July 2022, it appears that any abortions that were performed were not reported to the state.
