A midwife in Texas could face up to 20 years in prison for providing reproductive health care in the state, which has one of the nation’s strictest abortion bans. The arrest of Maria Margarita Rojas marks the first criminal case against an alleged abortion provider in Texas since the fall of Roe v. Wade in 2022 — and a major escalation in the far right’s war against bodily autonomy.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced on Monday that Rojas, 48, had been arrested on charges of providing illegal abortions and practicing medicine without a license. One of her employees, Jose Ley, was also arrested for providing an abortion and practicing without a license. Providing an abortion in Texas is punishable by up to life in prison and up to $100,000 in civil fines.

  • Cosmic Cleric@lemmy.world
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    22 hours ago

    Hot take, but the GOP has been using the technicality of shitty laws they pass to give cover for your hot take.

    Vote them out. And if you can’t, then deal with it (protest verbally, etc.), or move to another place without those lawmakers.

    Parsing up the fine details of this completely avoidable, ridiculously stupid action taken by Texas officials is important to having an honest conversation

    I have no problem talking about it. Seeing back alley abortions be a thing again, not so much.

    This comment is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

    • Bread_and_Circuses@reddthat.com
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      1 hour ago

      Seeing back alley abortions be a thing again, not so much.

      That’s completely disingenuous. These are clinics being run in the city of Houston, not back alleys.

      And you’re not having an honest conversation. You’re pushing why the law should be followed, not discussing the environment created by unjust laws. If you truly didn’t want back alley abortions, you would be defending this person’s right to maintain facilities in the light of day as they have been even in the face of this unjust law.

      • Cosmic Cleric@lemmy.world
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        28 minutes ago

        That’s completely disingenuous. These are clinics being run in the city of Houston, not back alleys.

        I know that, in this specific case. But a location doesn’t make a surgical procedure safe, if a person is not licensed to do it. It gives better odds, more resources are available during the procedure.

        I’m speaking to the history of non-sanctioned surgical procedures, specifically abortions, done by people who are not licensed medical practitioners, in general.

        The person doing the procedure matters more than where the procedure is being done at.

        And you’re not having an honest conversation.

        I am. What you said about me is not true, at all. You are misinterpreting what I said, not paying attention to the nuance of what I’m saying.

        You missed the point I’m making, and then accuse me of duplicity on the point you want me to make.

        You’re pushing why the law should be followed, not discussing the environment created by unjust laws.

        Exactly. That’s not the point I’m trying to make.

        Medicine should not be practiced by those who are not licensed to do it, under most circumstance (emergencies is ok, etc.), because of the history that that scenario has had. That’s the only point I’m making.

        For the record, I’m pro-choice. But this conversation wasn’t about how she can continue to protest (even though I did make suggestions along those lines, like transporting people out of state to get the abortions done). This conversation was about allowing anyone to do abortions, versus only those who are licensed practitioners.

        If you want to start a different conversation elsewhere (your own post), I’d be glad to join in on that.

        If you truly didn’t want back alley abortions, you would be defending this person’s right to maintain facilities in the light of day as they have been even in the face of this unjust law.

        I do defend their right to choice.

        I don’t defend the right of back alley abortions to happen.

        They are not mutually exclusive.

        This comment is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0