NY Governor Signs Bill to Protect Abortion Pill Providers After Doctor Indicted in Louisiana

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks during a press conference in New York City on Nov. 14, 2024. Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a bill on Feb. 3 aimed at concealing the names of doctors who prescribe abortion medication to people in states where abortion is banned.

The law would allow doctors to request that the name of their medical practice be printed on the prescription labels for mifepristone, misoprostol, and other abortion pills, instead of their name.

In signing the bill, Hochul affirmed her commitment to safeguarding access to abortion in New York. The new law took effect immediately.

“I’m taking action to strengthen protections for health care professionals and their patients, ensuring New York is a safe haven for anyone providing or receiving reproductive care,” she said in a statement. “At a time when fundamental rights are under attack across the country, we are doubling down on our commitment to safeguard access to reproductive health care and defend those on the frontlines of this battle.”

Hochul also announced that she had secured an agreement with the legislature on another law designed to ensure that pharmacies adhere to providers’ requests to print only their medical practice address on prescription labels.

The bill was introduced just days after a doctor in the state was indicted by a Louisiana grand jury for allegedly prescribing an abortion pill to a pregnant minor through consultations remotely online.

Hochul has said that she will not cooperate with any requests to extradite Dr. Margaret Carpenter and said she would “do everything” in her power to protect the indicted doctor. The governor reiterated her stance when announcing the bill on Monday.

“Never, under any circumstances will I sign an extradition agreement that sends our doctor into harm’s way to be prosecuted as a criminal for simply following her oath,” she said.

Hochul said that Louisiana authorities had likely identified Carpenter through the prescription label for the abortion pill allegedly sent to the minor’s mother.

“The doctor’s name was on the prescription bottle. That’s what they were looking for to identify this individual,” the governor said. “After today, that will no longer happen.”

Carpenter was indicted, along with her company Nightingale Medical, and the minor’s mother, by a West Baton Rouge Parish grand jury on charges of criminal abortion by means of abortion-inducing drugs.

The lawsuit is the first instance in which criminal charges have been filed against a physician accused of prescribing and sending abortion medication to a resident living outside of his or her area of practice.

The Epoch Times has reached out to Carpenter for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.

The Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine, which Carpenter co-founded, issued a Jan. 31 statement on social media platform X criticizing the indictment.

“The case out of Louisiana against a licensed NY doctor is the latest in a series of threats that jeopardizes women’s access to reproductive healthcare across the country,” it stated. “This state-sponsored effort to prosecute a doctor providing safe, effective care should alarm everyone.

Abortion is almost entirely illegal in Louisiana, with exceptions for cases involving a substantial threat to the mother’s life or a fatal fetal anomaly.

Last year, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed a first-in-the-nation bill designating the abortion drugs mifepristone and misoprostol as controlled substances.

Carpenter was also sued by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in December 2024 for allegedly prescribing abortion drugs via telemedicine to a Texas resident. Paxton said the doctor’s actions violated Texas law because she is not licensed to practice medicine in the state.