A Stephenville orthopedic surgeon who spent 27 years treating patients across Erath County lost his medical license this week after the Texas Medical Board determined he prescribed a patient an “abortive” medication in violation of the state's abortion ban. Dr. William Rockwell Evans was notified of the board's decision on Thursday, and his practice, Cross Timbers Orthopaedics, closed effective immediately.
According to The Dallas Morning News, the board summary states Evans prescribed the medication to a patient in December 2023. Texas' abortion ban, in place since 2022, prohibits performing or attempting an abortion in nearly all cases, allowing exceptions only for rare instances of medical necessity, and attempting a prohibited abortion is a felony under state law. Beneath the Surface News, a local outlet, reported that Evans was notified of the board's decision on Thursday, September 3, prompting the swift closure of the practice he had run in Stephenville since the late 1990s, as detailed by Beneath the Surface News.
Cross Timbers Orthopaedics, located at 561 N. Graham St., posted an official notice on its website confirming the office was closed effective immediately. As of Friday, Evans' physician profile had not yet reflected the license-status change, and he did not respond to requests for comment, per the Dallas Morning News report. The paper also notes the board summary describes an inappropriate sexual relationship between Evans and a patient, though it is unclear how that allegation factored into the final revocation.
A Long Career Built Around Erath County Sports Medicine
Evans graduated as valedictorian from Comanche High School and earned his undergraduate degree summa cum laude from Texas A&M University before completing medical school at UT Southwestern in 1992 and residency training at Emory University, according to a biography maintained by Eastland Memorial Hospital. He was raised in nearby Proctor, Texas, where his family farmed and ranched.
Before the revocation, Evans served as team physician for Tarleton State University and Ranger College, and he previously worked as associate team physician for the Atlanta Ballet and the Atlanta Olympics during his training, according to Cross Timbers Orthopaedics' own staff page. Tarleton State is a major public university based in Stephenville, making Evans a familiar figure well beyond his exam room. Stephenville, the Erath County seat, has more than 20,000 residents in a micropolitan area roughly 70 miles southwest of Fort Worth, where specialized orthopedic care options are already limited, per the Stephenville Chamber of Commerce.
A Second, Unrelated Allegation From 2020
The board's action was not limited to the abortion-related prescription. The Dallas Morning News reports Evans allegedly operated on the incorrect knee of a patient in 2020 and then attempted to cover up the error, after which the Texas Medical Board placed him on a remedial plan that same year. It is unclear from available reporting how that earlier remedial plan intersected with this week's license revocation.
Why the Board Had No Discretion
Under Texas Occupations Code Section 164.055, the Texas Medical Board is statutorily required to revoke the license of any health care professional found to have performed, induced, or attempted an abortion in violation of the state ban, according to Texas Public Law. The law leaves the board no discretion once a violation is established. Separately, Texas' Human Life Protection Act, which took effect in August 2022 roughly 30 days after Roe v. Wade was overturned, classifies performing or attempting an unlawful abortion as a first-degree felony carrying up to 99 years in prison and civil penalties of at least $100,000 per violation, as reported by Courthouse News Service.
It remains unclear whether Evans could face additional criminal or civil penalties beyond the license revocation. The Texas Attorney General's office has pursued parallel civil enforcement elsewhere in the state: in February, Attorney General Ken Paxton sought $100,000 per violation and a clinic-shuttering injunction against a Houston-area provider accused of distributing abortion medication, according to Repro Rights NOW. Whether local Erath County prosecutors or the Attorney General's office will pursue similar action against Evans has not been determined.
Board Oversight of Abortion Complaints Has Evolved
The Texas Medical Board formally adopted rules in June 2024 detailing how it investigates complaints involving alleged illegal abortions, and at the time board officials noted that local prosecutors retain independent statutory authority even when the board handles its own administrative review, according to The Texas Tribune. Hoodline previously reported on those board meetings establishing the exemption guidelines.
More recently, the board instituted mandatory training for physicians in February on legal exceptions to the abortion ban following passage of the 2025 Life of the Mother Act, making Texas the first state with an abortion ban to require such medical board training, per ProPublica. Hoodline covered that rollout in a February report on the training mandate. Evans' case is now playing out against that backdrop of tightening state oversight, in a rural community where the sudden loss of a longtime orthopedic surgeon leaves a gap that will not be easy to fill.
