A Texas judge on Thursday ordered a New York doctor to stop prescribing abortion pills to patients in the Lone Star State, escalating the latest legal drama over the abortion drug mifepristone.
The case, which is likely to make its way to the Supreme Court, essentially pits Texas and other states that have either banned or restricted abortion access following the overturning of Roe v. Wade against the eight states that have enacted so-called shield laws that protect doctors within their borders from legal liability for shipping abortion pills out of state.
Judge Bryan Gantt on Thursday afternoon issued a permanent injunction against New York Dr. Margaret Daley Carpenter of New York, who works with a telemedicine abortion organization to provide mifepristone and misoprostol to patients across the country.
The judge’s order also included a $100,000 fine and about $13,000 in legal fees and court costs that have accumulated since Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton brought the lawsuit against Carpenter in December.
Although the case in Texas is a civil matter, Carpenter is involved in a criminal case in Louisiana in which she prescribed abortion pills that were forced upon a pregnant minor by the child’s mother.
Gov. Jeff Landry (R-LA) signed extradition orders for Carpenter on Thursday to transport her to his state for the criminal case. Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) has promised to protect Carpenter and has taken measures to beef up her state’s shield law protecting other doctors who could be in her position.
To continue the civil case, Texas will likely file a petition in a New York state court to try to collect the financial penalty. The dispute could quickly escalate to federal courts should New York cite its shield to argue against the financial penalty.
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Conservative states with anti-abortion legislation on the books argue that shield laws essentially violate the sovereignty of states that choose to restrict abortion within their borders.
As of December 2023, 19% of abortions in the United States were conducted via telehealth prescriptions. An average of nearly 6,000 abortions per month were conducted in states with near-total abortion bans or prohibitions after six weeks of gestation.