“This is, as far as I know, the first allegation that someone in a ban state is providing an abortion in direct violation of abortion laws,” said Marc Hearron of the Center for #ReproductiveRights.

In a handful of cases, charges have been brought against people who provided #abortion pills to relatives, either with their knowledge or without.

…The bans on abortions around the country have largely relied on the threat of prosecution, w/few instances in which #criminal cases have actually been filed. #Abortion providers in #Texas & other states w/ abortion bans ceased operations after the decision. #Women seeking abortions have instead had to travel to states where the procedure remains legal or have received abortion medication through the mail.

The stmnt said that she had been “charged with the illegal performance of an abortion,” which has been a second-degree #felony since the state’s near-total #AbortionBan took effect in 2022. She was also charged w/practicing #medicine without a license.

Court records released late Monday indicated that a person who worked w/Ms. Rojas, Jose Ley, 29, was also arrested & charged w/the same offenses.

#KenPaxton, the #Texas AG, said in a statement that the #midwife, Maria Margarita Rojas, operated clinics in several towns around Houston, including 2 in Harris County, the state’s most populous county, & one in Waller County, a more rural & conservative jurisdiction where the charges were brought.

"DEI judge," influencer Jack Posobiec complained on X, suggesting that she was a "diversity, equity & inclusion" hire - presumably because she is a #woman. [#Trump hired her]

Their criticism of her comes despite Justice #AmyConeyBarrett consistently voting in favour of conservative cases, from ending the landmark #RoeVWade #abortion rights to expanding #gun rights.

In asking #SCOTUS to take the case from #Illinois, the coalition’s lawyer, Paul Clement, invoked the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn #RoeVWade. In that ruling, known as #Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Org, #Alito cited the court’s 2000 decision on buffer zones as an example of an #abortion-related case that had “distorted First Amendment doctrines.”