Texas Court Rules Against NY Doctor for Mailing Abortion Pills

livewell
February 14, 2025
Noah Bennett

Texas Abortion Laws: Doctor Ordered to Pay Fine

Texas abortion laws set a major precedent for how states handle cases involving doctors prescribing abortion pills across state lines. A Texas judge has ordered a New York doctor to pay over $100,000 for providing abortion pills to a patient in Texas, The New York Times reported.

Texas Abortion Case

On Thursday, Judge Bryan Gantt of Collin County District Court ruled against Dr. Margaret Daley Carpenter in Texas abortion case. Carpenter is a New Paltz-based physician who provides telemedicine services nationwide. The lawsuit was filed in December by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a strong supporter of former President Donald Trump. The court ordered Dr. Carpenter to stop her practice and pay a fine of more than $100,000.

Louisiana Also Pursues Charges Against Carpenter

In addition to the Texas lawsuit, Carpenter faces legal trouble in Louisiana, where she is accused of sending abortion pills to a pregnant teenager. This case marks the first criminal indictment of its kind in the country.

Despite Louisiana’s efforts to extradite Carpenter, New York’s Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul firmly refused to cooperate.

“I will not be signing an extradition order that came from the governor of Louisiana – not now, not ever,” Hochul said on Thursday.

Carpenter has not commented directly on the cases, but her organization, the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine, condemned the legal actions against her. In a statement, they called Louisiana’s indictment “a political attack on safe and effective healthcare” and argued that such restrictions contradict New York state law.

Meanwhile, Louisiana’s Republican Governor Jeff Landry insists that Carpenter must be sent to Louisiana to “face justice.”

Wrap-Up: Abortion Pill Case in Texas

These cases highlight the ongoing legal battles over abortion access in the U.S., as states with opposing views continue to clash over reproductive rights.

Carpenter’s abortion pill case in Texas may be the first time a doctor has faced criminal charges for giving abortion pills to someone in another state. Prosecutors in West Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, indicted Carpenter on charges that she violated the state’s near-total abortion ban, which allows physicians convicted of performing abortions, including one with pills, to be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.

In 2022, the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization removed the constitutional right to abortion. Since then, republican-led states like Louisiana and Texas have made stricter abortion laws, while democratic states like New York have worked to protect abortion rights and help patients from other states get abortion medication.