A Texas judge ruled that a New York doctor must stop providing abortion care to people in Texas via telemedicine — the latest development in an overarching battle between conflicting laws in number of U.S. states.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed the lawsuit against Dr. Margaret Carpenter in December, accusing her of violating Texas abortion law by prescribing abortion-inducing drugs to a woman in Collin County. According to the lawsuit, the woman used the medications mifepristone and misoprostol to end her pregnancy, which the biological father learned of after the pregnancy was terminated.
Texas has a total abortion ban, with a narrow exception to protect the life and major bodily functions of the mother. It is also illegal to ship abortion medication by mail in the state. New York, however, passed a “shield law” in 2023 intended to protect abortion providers from prosecution originating from states where abortion is illegal. Several other states, including Colorado and Washington, have passed similar laws.
Carpenter works for multiple organizations that provide telemedicine abortion services, and is the cofounder of the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine, a group that supports access to abortion medication from states that have shield laws.
Judge Bryan Gantt of Collin County signed a default judgment against Carpenter Thursday, noting that the defendant did not appear for a hearing scheduled in the case on Wednesday.
Gantt’s ruling also held that Carpenter violated Texas law by practicing medicine in the state without an appropriate license, as well as Texas’ specific abortion statutes, and “that an unborn child died as a result of these violations.”
The judge’s order permanently bars Carpenter from prescribing abortion pills in Texas. She is also ordered to pay a $100,000 penalty, along with the plaintiff’s legal fees.
Carpenter’s absence from Wednesday’s hearing, as first reported by The New York Times, aligned with the policy of New York State’s shield law not to cooperate with out-of-state investigations.
When Paxton initially filed the lawsuit in December, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signaled her intention to test the shield law’s muster. If New York resists Texas’ attempts to enforce Judge Gantt’s ruling, it could cue a higher court to step in.
“Make no mistake: I will do everything in my power to enforce the laws of New York State,” Hochul said in December.
Meanwhile, another challenge to New York’s shield law is ongoing from Louisiana in a case which also targets Dr. Carpenter. Hochul said Thursday that she would not comply with a request to extradite Carpenter to Louisiana.
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