Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Tuesday the arrests of two more people in a widening probe of illegal abortion clinics in the Houston metropolitan area.
Mr. Paxton, a Republican, said 29-year-old Jose Manuel Cendan Ley was arrested Monday on charges of performing illegal abortions and practicing medicine without a license as a medical assistant at Clinica Waller Latinoamericana in the city of Waller.
Mr. Paxton’s office described Mr. Ley as “a Cuban national who entered the U.S. illegally in 2022 and was later paroled under the open borders policies enacted by the lawless Biden Administration.”
As part of the same investigation, the attorney general said 54-year-old Rubildo Labanino Matos was arrested on March 8 as he returned to the U.S. from Cuba. Mr. Matos, a nurse practitioner whose license is currently on probation with the state’s Board of Nursing, faces charges of conspiracy to practice medicine without a license.
“Individuals killing unborn babies by performing illegal abortions in Texas will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, and I will not rest until justice is served,” Mr. Paxton said.
The announcement comes one day after Mr. Paxton announced the arrest of a midwife known as “Dr. Maria” accused of operating three illegal abortion clinics in the area.
Maria Margarita Rojas, 48, faces second-degree felony charges and is accused of illegally performing abortions and practicing medicine without a license.
The attorney general’s office has accused Mr. Ley of assisting Ms. Rojas “in providing at least one illegal abortion” at her clinic in Waller.
Additionally, Mr. Paxton has accused Ms. Rojas of owning the Clinica Latinoamericana Telge in Cypress and Latinoamericana Medical Clinic in Spring.
The Washington Times has been unable to reach Ms. Rojas for comment. As of Tuesday morning, phone calls to her three clinics went unanswered and it was unclear whether she had legal representation.
Mr. Paxton’s office noted Monday that a Texas law signed in 2021 allows the attorney general to punish “abortion providers — not patients” with criminal charges for violating a ban on most procedures after six weeks of pregnancy.
In late 2021, the Supreme Court allowed Texas to ban most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. After the high court overturned the national right to an abortion in June 2022, the state passed a stricter ban with a limited exception for the life of the mother.
Mr. Paxton’s office has announced plans to prosecute the Houston-area cases using a part of the 2021 law that authorizes him to seek civil penalties of at least $100,000 per abortion performed. It has also filed a temporary restraining order to shut down the three clinics.
Some pro-life activists on Tuesday praised his crackdown on illegal abortions.
“There is no excuse for illegal abortions that take the life of the baby and put women’s lives at risk, committed by people who don’t even have a medical license,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. “Abortion activists’ reckless, criminal disregard for women’s lives and unborn life is on full display.”
Lexi White, director of state strategies at the abortion advocacy group All* Above All, urged pro-choice advocates to fight “the criminalization of abortion access.”
“We know that the renewed enforcement of these criminal laws will disproportionately target and harm communities of color and low-income communities across the country,” Ms. White said. “It is a racial and economic justice issue.”
