New York doctor ordered to stop providing abortion pills to Texans

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A Collin County judge has ordered a New York doctor to stop prescribing abortion-inducing medication to Texas residents and ordered her to pay a $100,000 fine.

Thursday's ruling is the opening salvo in what’s expected to be a lengthy legal battle likely to end up at the U.S. Supreme Court, as Texas’ near-total abortion ban runs up against New York’s law protecting abortion providers from out-of-state legal action.

Dr. Margaret Carpenter is an abortion provider and co-founder of the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine, a group that helps doctors navigate legal and regulatory barriers to provide abortion medication through the mail. These so-called “shield providers,” located in states where abortion is still legal, are working under a set of yet-untested laws designed to stymie abortion bans in states like Texas.

In December, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Carpenter, accusing her of prescribing abortion medication to a Collin County woman in violation of Texas’ abortion laws. Neither Carpenter nor her lawyers responded to the suit. As expected, Carpenter did not attend the Wednesday hearing before Collin County District Judge Bryan Gantt, according to The New York Times.

On Thursday, Gantt ruled that Carpenter had violated Texas law by practicing without a license and facilitating an abortion, and “that an unborn child died as a result of these violations.” Gantt issued a permanent injunction against Carpenter prescribing abortion-inducing drugs to Texas residents. Violating an injunction can come with additional penalties, including jail time.

Carpenter was ordered to pay a $100,000 fine and about $13,000 in attorneys’ fees. Paxton’s office is expected to ask New York state to enforce the judgement, which is typically standard practice between states. But New York is expected to try to block any of Texas’ efforts to hold Carpenter to its legal standards, a clash that will likely require the federal courts to intervene.

When New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the shield law in 2023, she said states like Texas “can continue hell-bent down your path on continuing this radical behavior. But we’ll be just as hell-bent on stopping you.”

Late last month, Louisiana went a step further, criminally indicting Carpenter based on similar allegations. On Thursday, Gov. Jeff Landry signed an extradition warrant, ordering New York to arrest Carpenter on behalf of Louisiana. Hochul has said she has no intention of doing so.