New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday rejected a request from Louisiana to extradite a doctor charged with prescribing abortion pills to a minor, while a Texas judge has fined the same physician in a separate case.
“I will not be signing an extradition order that came from the governor of Louisiana. Not now, not ever,” Hochul, a Democrat, said during a Manhattan news conference.
The governor also issued a directive to New York law enforcement, instructing them to ignore out-of-state warrants related to such charges.
Her response comes as New York-based Dr. Maggie Carpenter faces legal challenges in multiple states over prescribing abortion medication via telemedicine. Carpenter is co-medical director and founder of the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine.
The Louisiana case against Carpenter is believed to be the first instance of criminal charges being filed across state lines against a doctor for prescribing abortion pills.
In Louisiana’s West Baton Rouge Parish, prosecutors have indicted Carpenter for allegedly violating the state’s near-total abortion ban. Louisiana’s law allows for sentences of up to 15 years in prison for physicians convicted of performing abortions, including those using medication.
The minor in Louisiana who Carpenter prescribed abortion pills to allegedly experienced a medical emergency requiring hospitalization, Louisiana authorities said. The girl’s mother was charged related to the incident and has since turned herself over to police.
Fine From Texas
Meanwhile, in Texas, State District Judge Bryan Gantt has imposed a $100,000 fine on Carpenter and ordered her to pay attorney’s fees. Unlike Louisiana, Texas did not file criminal charges but instead accused Carpenter in a December lawsuit of violating state law by prescribing abortion medication via telemedicine.In this case, the state’s Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton said the 20-year-old woman who received the pills ended up in a hospital with complications. It was only after that, the state said in its filing, that the man described as “the biological father of the unborn child” learned of the pregnancy and the abortion.
The Texas ruling is among the first challenges to so-called shield laws protecting abortion in Democratic-controlled states where abortion remains legal. Such laws aim to protect doctors who prescribe abortion medication to patients in states with strict abortion restrictions.
In the United States, pills are now the most popular abortion method and have become the focal point of legal challenges related to abortion since the overturning of Roe V. Wade.
The standoff between New York and Louisiana over Carpenter is expected to lead to a court case that could test the validity of the state’s shield law.
