Position Statement on the Arrest of Texas Midwife Maria Margarita Rojas
Dear Oregon Birthworkers,
The Oregon Affiliate of the ACNM acknowledges the recent joint statement between ACNM National and the Consortium of Texas Certified Nurse-Midwives (CTCNM) regarding the arrest of Maria Margarita Rojas(1) , as well as Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s press release about the issue(2). As healthcare providers committed to bodily autonomy and patient-centered care in a national political landscape that is increasingly hostile to our work, we feel that it is important to share our thoughts and values with the broader community through this position statement.
Background
On March 17th, Maria Margarita Rojas, a licensed midwife (LM) practicing in Houston, TX, was arrested for allegedly providing abortion care and practicing medicine without a license, according to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton(2). Rojas’s midwifery license was active at the time of arrest and has since been suspended via a temporary injunction that is currently being challenged for its lack of evidence and failure to set a trial date(3). While some details of this case remain unclear, this arrest represents an attempt to engender fear in the minds of both providers and patients who may be unsure as to where they can safely and legally provide and receive essential care.
Our Position
While we acknowledge our duty as birth workers to practice within the bounds of national and state legislation, we emphasize the following key points:
The language of the original joint statement between ACNM National and the Consortium of Texas Certified Nurse Midwives (CTCNM) was constricted by the Texas practice environment and concern for retaliation against midwives practicing within it. In such future situations, we urge ACNM National to publish their own statement, where they may speak more openly and strongly about the injustices being served in today’s abortion care landscape. While supporting our colleagues in restrictive states is essential, bowing to political pressure and forsaking our duty to our patients is unacceptable.
CNMs and CMs continue to provide safe and effective abortion care around the United States within their professional scope of practice(4). On a state level, 19 states allow Advanced Practice Providers (including CNMs) to provide abortion services, 16 of whom allow APPs to provide both medication and procedural abortions(5).
Maria Margarita Rojas provided care to a predominantly Spanish-speaking, low-income population that is particularly vulnerable to stigmatization and attack from Ken Paxton. This is also a population that is disproportionately impacted by abortion bans.
Research shows that when abortion is illegal, it will continue to happen; restrictive abortion laws do not effectively eliminate abortion(6). The need for abortion care does not vanish with the rollout of restrictive abortion laws. However, abortion-related arrests like that of Maria Margarita Rojas in Texas seek to ensure that people are too afraid to even consider helping their community members to obtain abortion care. This is especially problematic when policing related to abortion care is based on anonymous tips, creating an environment devoid of compassion and accountability where neighbors turn on each other, and turn each other in.
The overlap between miscarriage management and medication abortion care creates a murky and disconcerting situation for providers in abortion restrictive states and potentially sets a dangerous stage for pregnant people needing miscarriage management.
In short, the Oregon Affiliate stands strong with our Texas counterparts, while reaffirming the critical role
of midwives in providing safe abortion care across the United States. In addition, we deplore abortion-related arrests of midwives without substantiated evidence against them. We urge midwives in non-restrictive states to continue providing abortion care, in the name of midwifery scope of practice, patient autonomy, and for all of our colleagues who cannot, at present, do this crucial work in their communities.
We are stronger together.
In service and gratitude,
The Oregon Affiliate of the ACNM
References
1. American College of Nurse-Midwives and Consortium of Texas Certified Nurse-Midwives. (2025, March 19). Joint statement on the Texas Attorney General Case. ACNM. https://midwife.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/ACNM-CTCNM-Joint-Statement-on-TX-AG-Case-3.19.25.pdf
2.Texas Attorney General. (2025, March 17). Attorney General Ken Paxton announces arrest of Houston-area abortionist and crackdown on clinics providing illegal abortions. Ken Paxton, Attorney General of Texas. https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/attorney-general-ken-paxton-announces-arrest-houston-area-abortionist-and-crackdown-clinics
3.Klibanoff, E. (2025, May 14). Houston midwife accused of illegal abortions appeals case. The Texas Tribune. https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/14/texas-abortion-illegal-arrest-houston-midwife/
4.American College of Nurse-Midwives. (2019, August). Position statement: Midwives as abortion providers. ACNM. https://midwife.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/PS-Midwives-as-Abortion-Providers-FINAL-August-2019.pdf
5.Dube, N. (2022). States allowing non-physicians to provide abortion services. Office of Legislative Research. https://www.cga.ct.gov/2022/rpt/pdf/2022-R-0167.pdf
6.Bearak, J., Popinchalk, A., Ganatra, B., Moller, A.-B., Tunçalp, Ö., Beavin, C., Kwok, L., & Alkema, L. (2020). Unintended pregnancy and abortion by income, region, and the legal status of abortion: Estimates from a comprehensive model for 1990–2019. The Lancet Global Health, 8(9), e1152–e1161. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(20)30315-6