Paxton sues Delaware nurse for sending abortion pills to Texas

(CN) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued a Delaware nurse practitioner Tuesday, accusing her of violating Texas’ abortion ban by mailing abortion pills to Texas.

Nurse practitioner Debra Lynch operates a Delaware-based practice called Her Safe Harbor through which she provides telehealth abortions. In a January 2025 article by the Austin-American Statesman, Lynch described how she provides abortion medication to patients in states like Texas that have abortion bans.

“No matter what obstacle might come down, we’re trying to think ahead and make sure that we can figure out another way around it,” Lynch said. “Because the ultimate goal is to make sure the medication is available to the women who need it.”

In a complaint filed Tuesday in Jefferson County District Court, Paxton claims Lynch violated Texas’ Human Life Protection Act, which prohibits abortions except when necessary to save the life of the pregnant person or prevent “substantial impairment of a major bodily function.”

Paxton also accuses Lynch of violating Texas law by performing abortions without a physician’s license. He seeks an injunction blocking Lynch and her practice from continuing to perform abortions in violation of Texas law as well as a civil monetary penalty.

“The day of reckoning for this radical out-of-state abortion drug trafficker is here,” Paxton said in a statement announcing the lawsuit. “No one, regardless of where they live, will be freely allowed to aid in the murder of unborn children in Texas.”

Her Safe Harbor did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.

Paxton previously sued New York physician Dr. Margaret Carpenter for mailing abortion pills to a woman in Texas. After Carpenter failed to appear in court, a Texas judge issued a default judgment ordering her to pay a $113,000 penalty and to stop providing remote abortion care to patients in Texas.

However, a New York county clerk refused to file the judgment, citing New York’s abortion shield law, which protects abortion providers from out-of-state investigations, judgments and prosecutions for reproductive health care that is legal under New York law. In October, a New York judge dismissed a petition from Paxton seeking to force the clerk to file the judgment, finding the clerk had lawfully complied with the shield law. Paxton has appealed the ruling.

Like New York, Delaware also has a shield law protecting abortion providers from out-of-state legal action, once again teeing up a potential battle over the constitutionality of shield laws and the ability of states to block enforcement of other states’ laws.