Texas doctor loses license after prescribing abortion drug to patient 

A Texas doctor lost his medical license after state regulators learned he prescribed an abortion drug to a woman with whom he previously had a sexual relationship.

The Texas Medical Board revoked Dr. William Rockwell Evans’ license last week. The punishment took effect immediately.

The board’s two-page order says Evans “engaged in an inappropriate sexual relationship with a patient” and prescribed her “an abortive” in December 2023, breaking Texas’ abortion law.

The short order doesn’t name the abortion drug, nor does it say whether the woman took it or whether it ended her unborn child’s life. It also doesn’t say who fathered the child in question.

Evans was an orthopedic surgeon in Stephenville, a community 70 miles southwest of Fort Worth. He held a Texas medical license for 27 years. His practice, Cross Timbers Orthopaedics, has since closed down.

Abortion is usually illegal in Texas. The state only allows it when a doctor decides a mother may face death or serious physical harm otherwise.

Under Section 170A.007 of the Texas Health and Safety Code, a licensing board “shall revoke” the license of a health care worker who performs, causes or attempts an illegal abortion.

Evans has 30 days to appeal the decision in a Travis County district court. He faced no punishment for his sexual relationship with the woman.

Under Texas law, Evans may also face a criminal case or a civil lawsuit. An illegal abortion is a second-degree felony, which carries a penalty of two to 20 years in prison and an up to $10,000 fine.

The state can also seek a civil penalty of at least $100,000 for an illegal abortion, though it’s unclear whether Texas will do so. However, it has enforced this law before.

In February 2025, a Texas judge ordered New York doctor Margaret Carpenter to pay $100,000. The judge also barred her from again prescribing abortion drugs to Texas women.

Carpenter didn’t answer the state’s lawsuit, so the judge entered a default ruling. It was a civil case, and Carpenter had no Texas medical license for the state to revoke.

The first criminal case under the Texas abortion ban started in March 2025. Heartlander News reported authorities charged midwife Maria Rojas and clinic worker Jose Ley with performing illegal abortions. Neither was a licensed doctor. 

Rojas pleaded not guilty. Her criminal case remains open. A state appeals court said the attorney general’s office lacked sufficient evidence to back a separate order closing her clinics. The ruling didn’t dismiss the criminal charges. 

While Texas banned abortion in 2022, it has taken stronger action since.

Last year, it passed a law allowing private lawsuits against people who make, prescribe or send the drugs into Texas.

Heartlander News previously reported state officials think 20,000 to 30,000 abortion-pill shipments enter Texas illegally each year.