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(CN) — A New York court on Thursday blocked Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton from enforcing a legal punishment against a New York doctor for prescribing abortion pills to a woman in Texas, which has a near-total abortion ban.
“Today, I informed Texas State Attorney General Ken Paxton that the Ulster County Clerk’s Office will not be filing a summary judgment against a New Paltz physician who is facing charges in Texas for providing mifepristone via telehealth to a Texas resident,” acting Ulster County Clerk Taylor Bruck said in a statement Thursday. “In accordance with the New York State Shield Law, I have refused this filing and will refuse any similar filings that may come to our office.”
It is the first time that a telehealth abortion shield law is being tested in the United States. Eight states passed such a law, which shields abortion providers from legal repercussions for providing telehealth care in states where abortion is illegal, after the Supreme Court overturned the national right to an abortion in 2022.
The doctor in this case is New Paltz physician Dr. Margaret Carpenter, who prescribes abortion pills to patients across the country. Paxton filed a civil lawsuit against Carpenter in December, accusing her of violating the Texas’ abortion ban by sending abortion pills to a woman in the state.
But Carpenter never responded to a lawsuit, and a Texas judge issued a default judgment against Carpenter that ordered her to pay a $113,000 penalty and to stop providing remote abortion care in Texas.
With Bruck refusing to sign off on the order, Carpenter won’t have to pay the fine and can continue sending abortion pills to Texas patients — for now. Bruck acknowledged that this case is “likely to result in further litigation” and could reach the Supreme Court this year, ultimately testing the legality of abortion shield laws nationwide.
In a statement to Courthouse News, Paxton likened Bruck’s decision to “shredding the Constitution.”
“I am outraged that New York would refuse to allow Texas to pursue enforcement of a civil judgment against a radical abortionist illegally peddling dangerous drugs across state lines,” Paxton said.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul strengthened statewide abortion shield protections in February after Carpenter was criminally charged in Louisiana, which also has a near-total abortion ban, for sending abortion pills to a patient there. The February law allows doctors who prescribe abortion pills to request that the dispensing pharmacy print the name of their practice on prescription labels, rather than their personal name.
“The anti-woman, anti-abortion zealots are at it again,” Hochul said in a statement Thursday. “Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is trying to come after a New York doctor who prescribed medication abortion via telemedicine — the same doctor who is facing charges in Louisiana for the so-called ‘crime’ of prescribing this FDA-approved medication.”
“Today, the county clerk in Ulster County bravely stood up with a simple message: Hell no,” Hochul continued. “Acting County Clerk Taylor Bruck has formally notified Texas that in accordance with our shield laws he is rejecting the filing of a judgment against a New York doctor. New York is grateful for his courage and common sense.”
Hochul has vowed not to comply with any extradition request that would send Carpenter to Louisiana.
New York Attorney General Letitia James published court guidance earlier this year about the state’s shield law. In the materials, her office stated that “extradition requests must be denied and related warrants should not be executed” unless another state alleges that an abortion provider was physically present in the suing state.
“I commend the Ulster County clerk for doing what is right,” James said in a statement Thursday. “New York’s shield law was created to protect patients and providers from out-of-state anti-choice attacks, and we will not allow anyone to undermine health care providers’ ability to deliver necessary care to their patients.”
Texas and Louisiana, respectively, are the first two states to initiate legal action against telehealth abortion providers from states protected by shield laws.
Paxton accuses Carpenter of sending mifepristone and misoprostol, common drugs prescribed for medication abortions, to a 20-year-old Texas woman who had been roughly nine weeks pregnant.
Pills remain the most common abortion method in the country, accounting for 63% of all abortions nationwide in 2023.
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