The attorney general of Texas, Ken Paxton, got it New York a doctor over accusing himself of mailing a woman’s abortion pills to Texas against a state ban in the process.
The case will test the force of the “shield” laws, post-Roe v. Wade a plan designed to protect abortion providers and ensure access to care for women in states that have banned abortion.
Filed in Collin County, Texas and announced on Friday; cause Dr. Megan Carpenter alleges that she sent a Texas woman to have a 20-year-old abortion via telemedicine. After the woman sought medical attention in July after experiencing heavy bleeding, he suspected she had sought a “biological part of the unborn child” to end her pregnancy without informing him and found abortion pills, according to the lawsuit.
Because Carpenter is based in New York, Paxton’s lawsuit would come against New York’s shield law, which dictates that officials in the state will not cooperate with efforts by other states to sue or prosecute providers who sent abortion pills to people in states that prohibit abortion. . Seven other states passed similar shield laws when the US Supreme Court overturned Roe.
These laws are critical to protecting women’s access to post-abortion. On average, in every month Between April and June of 2024, the legislation targeted pill providers for more than 9,700 people living in states with near-total abortion bans. #WeCountresearch by the Family Planning Society.
This case will mark the first time that the shield and laws have been proven in court, pitting the laws of two states against each other.
“This was necessary,” said Mary Ziegler, a University of California, Davis, law school professor who studies the history of legal reproduction. “This is going to be a state conflict in the state.”
Ziegler added: “The goal, I think, is partly to scare the doctors by saying, ‘We’re coming to see you personally.’
Mifepristone and misoprostol, the two drugs that the lawsuit accuses Carpenter of mailing, are commonly used for abortions in the US. effectively safe when at the top of the womb the first trimester of pregnancy. The lawsuit indicates that the woman’s pregnancy ended at about nine weeks, but it is unclear whether she suffered long-term health consequences.
The woman’s level of involvement in the case is also not clear. Paxton’s office did not immediately return a request for comment.
“In” TexasWe treasure the health and lives of mothers and babies, and that’s why out-of-state doctors do not illegally and dangerously prescribe abortion-inducing drugs to Texas residents,” Paxton said in a statement.
Paxton’s lawsuit seeks a temporary injunction against Carpenter that would have prevented her from prescribing catabolism abortions to Texas residents and from practicing telemedicine in Texas, where Carpenter allegedly does not hold a medical license. The suit also asks that Carpenter be fined $100,000 for each violation of Texas law, as well as any attorney fees that Texas incurs.
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Ziegler said it’s unclear whether New York law would keep Carpenter from paying them if Paxton prevails.
New York law also allows Carpenter to establish that his case against Paxton could constitute an “imminent interference with the rights of the defendants,” meaning he has the power to settle his lawsuit. If Texas or Carpenter were to win money from the lawsuits, but refuse to force their states to pay in individual lawsuits, the case could end up before the U.S. Supreme Court, Ziegler said.
Smith is the founder and co-director of Medical abortion Coalition for Telemedicine, which works to expand access to protect the laws and help doctors navigate. The organization did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“As other states move to crack down on those who procure or obtain abortion care, New York is proud to be a safe haven for abortion access,” New York attorney general Letitia James said in a statement after news broke of Paxton’s lawsuit.
“We will always protect our suppliers from unjust attempts to punish them for doing their job, and we will never fear terror or threats.”