A Texas appeals court ruled that the state lacked evidence to support claims that a Houston midwife violated the state's abortion ban. The court reversed an order that would have closed three clinics managed by the midwife, Maria Rojas.
The ruling represents a significant legal setback for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's efforts to enforce the state's abortion ban through civil litigation, potentially impacting future attempts to prosecute healthcare providers and close clinics based on similar evidence.
A Texas state appeals court on Thursday ruled that the state attorney general had no evidence to support claims that a Houston midwife, Maria Rojas, had performed illegal abortions, reversing an order that would have shuttered three clinics she managed. The Austin-based Texas Fifteenth Court of Appeals stated that a state judge had improperly relied on evidence from a related criminal prosecution against Rojas in the separate civil case. Rojas is still facing felony charges for violating Texas' near-total ban on abortion, but the appeals court ruling is a setback for the civil lawsuit filed by Attorney General Ken Paxton's office seeking money damages and to prevent Rojas from practicing. The court determined that a filing in her criminal case establishing probable cause for arrest should not have been admitted in the civil case. Justice Scott Field wrote for the three-judge panel that the trial court abused its discretion in granting the temporary injunctive relief. Paxton's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Jenna Hudson of the Center for Reproductive Rights, representing Rojas, stated that despite the legal victory, it will be nearly impossible for Rojas to re-open the clinics. Hudson criticized the state for shutting down needed healthcare providers based on "trumped-up evidence and a shoddy investigation." Rojas, who has pleaded not guilty, was arrested in March 2025 and charged with performing abortions and practicing medicine without a license. Paxton's office claims Rojas employed other midwives at her clinics who falsely presented themselves as licensed medical professionals. Eight other individuals who worked at Rojas' clinics were arrested in October. These cases are part of a broader legal battle over abortion rights following the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade.