A New York physician was indicted by a Louisiana grand jury Friday for prescribing abortion treatment through telehealth to a lady within the state.
Grand jurors in Baton Rouge indicted Dr. Margaret Daley Carpenter, alongside along with her firm Nightingale Medical PC and a second particular person. Carpenter, a health care provider and co-founder of the New York nonprofit the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine (ACT) was additionally sued by Texas Lawyer Normal Ken Paxton final 12 months for allegedly prescribing abortion tablets to a younger girl within the state.
Louisiana and Texas each have a few of the strictest abortion legal guidelines within the nation. Abortion is banned in Louisiana with exceptions for rape and incest, whereas Texas legislation bans nearly all abortions except a health care provider determines the being pregnant poses a menace to the lifetime of the mom or poses a danger of “substantial impairment” to a bodily operate.
Final 12 months, Louisiana additionally reclassified the 2 medicine wanted for a drugs abortion —mifepristone and misoprostol — as Schedule IV managed substances.
“It is illegal to send abortion pills into this State and it’s illegal to coerce another into having an abortion,” mentioned Louisiana Lawyer Normal Liz Murrill in a publish to the social platform X. “I have said it before and I will say it again: We will hold individuals accountable for breaking the law.”
The case seems to be the primary time legal fees have been issued in opposition to a doctor for prescribing and sending abortion treatment to an individual in a state the place they don’t observe.
Additionally it is the primary check of New York’s defend legislation, which is supposed to guard suppliers from out-of-state investigations and prosecutions for sending abortion tablets to sufferers with strict restrictions on abortion.
“The New York Shield Law, passed with the help of ACT in 2023, and Shield Laws across the country enable licensed healthcare professionals to successfully deliver reproductive healthcare to patients in under resourced areas nationwide. ACT stands behind these laws,” the ACT mentioned.
“Since Roe v Wade was overturned, we’ve witnessed a disturbing pattern of interference with women’s rights,” the nonprofit added. “It’s no secret the United States has a history of violence and harassment against abortion providers, and this state-sponsored effort to prosecute a doctor providing safe and effective care should alarm everyone.”
New York management seems ready to combat in opposition to any extradition requests from Louisiana.
“I will never, under any circumstances, turn this doctor over to the state of Louisiana under any extradition requests,” mentioned New York Governor Kathy Hochul in a video message.
New York Lawyer Normal Letitia James referred to as the criminalization of abortion care a “direct and brazen” assault on People’ bodily autonomy.
“This cowardly attempt out of Louisiana to weaponize the law against out-of-state providers is unjust and un-American,” she mentioned in a press release. “We will not allow bad actors to undermine our providers’ ability to deliver critical care.”
Treatment abortions utilizing the drug mifepristone have been first accepted by the U.S. Meals and Drug Administration in 2000 and accounted for 63 % of all abortions in the US in 2023, based on the Guttmacher Institute.
The Related Press contributed.
