AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A second person has been arrested in connection to a Texas midwife who is accused of providing illegal abortions at a network of clinics operated outside of the Houston area. Jose Manuel Cendan Ley, a 29-year-old medical assistant, is accused of performing an illegal abortion and practicing without a license at a clinic in connection to Maria Margarita Rojas whose arrest was announced Monday by Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Court records show Ley was arrested on March 6, released on bond a few days later, then arrested again Monday.
Rojas, 48, was also charged with providing an illegal abortion and practicing medicine without a license, which are second- and third-degree felonies. She is accused of operating three clinics northwest of Houston that performed illegal abortion procedures. Her arrest signified the first time authorities have filed criminal charges under the state’s near-total abortion ban .
The attorney general's office is alleging that Ley worked as a medical assistant at one of Rojas’ three clinics and performed at least one abortion illegally. In an announcement on Tuesday, the office states that Ley is a Cuban national who entered the U.S.
illegally in 2022 and was later placed on parole. Rubildo Labanino Matos, 54, was also arrested in connection to the investigation for practicing medicine without a license, according to Paxton's office. “Individuals killing unborn babies by performing illegal abortions in Texas .