A Texas appeals court has handed Attorney General Ken Paxton a setback in one of the state’s highest-profile abortion enforcement cases, ruling that prosecutors failed to present enough evidence to justify shutting down the clinics of a Houston-area midwife accused of illegally providing abortions.
In a decision issued Thursday, the Fifteenth Court of Appeals reversed a lower court’s injunction against midwife Maria Margarita Rojas and her clinics, finding that the state relied largely on affidavits filed in a parallel criminal case rather than admissible evidence in the separate civil proceeding.
“The trial court abused its discretion by considering incompetent evidence in support of the temporary injunction,” the three-judge panel wrote.
The ruling does not dismiss the underlying allegations or the criminal charges against Rojas, who in March became the first person charged under Texas’ near-total abortion ban. Prosecutors allege she illegally performed abortions and practiced medicine without a license. Rojas has pleaded not guilty.
Paxton’s office filed the civil lawsuit shortly after the criminal charges were announced, seeking to permanently close Rojas’ clinics and impose financial penalties. The appellate court concluded, however, that the state failed to meet the legal standard necessary to support the injunction because much of its evidence could not be considered in the civil case.
The attorney general’s office said it plans to appeal the decision to the Texas Supreme Court.
The Center for Reproductive Rights, which represents Rojas, welcomed the ruling, saying the state had failed to produce evidence supporting its claims and arguing the injunction should never have been granted. The organization also noted that the criminal prosecution remains pending.
Although the decision technically removes the court order shuttering the clinics, Rojas’ attorneys said the facilities are not expected to reopen while the criminal case continues.
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The case has drawn national attention as one of the first major tests of Texas’ abortion ban since the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade. The law generally prohibits abortions except when necessary to save the life of the pregnant patient, with providers facing severe civil penalties as well as potential criminal prosecution for violating the statute.
The appeals court’s ruling addresses only whether the state presented sufficient evidence to obtain the temporary injunction, leaving the broader legal fight over the allegations — and the future of the criminal case — to continue.
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