Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, has filed a lawsuit against a New York doctor who allegedly violated Texas law by prescribing abortion drugs to a woman in the Lone Star State.
Paxton accused Dr. Margaret Carpenter of sending pills from New York to a 20-year-old woman in Collin County, Texas, who took the medication when she was nine weeks pregnant, as stated in the lawsuit.
After experiencing severe bleeding, the woman asked the baby’s father, who was unaware of her pregnancy, to take her to the hospital.
The lawsuit does not confirm if the woman successfully terminated her pregnancy or faced any long-term medical complications from taking mifepristone and misoprostol.
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit accusing a New York doctor of prescribing abortion drugs to a Texas woman, violating laws in the Lone Star State. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
Paxton’s lawsuit is the first legal challenge testing protections in states with conflicting abortion laws since Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022.
Texas prohibits abortion with limited exceptions, while New York protects abortion access with a shield law that shields providers from out-of-state investigations and prosecutions, potentially allowing doctors to send abortion pills to restricted states.
Texas vows to pursue such cases despite the shield laws, but the outcome remains uncertain given the legal complexities involving extraterritoriality, interstate commerce, and other legal issues. New York’s law permits Carpenter to resist complying with Texas court orders.
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It is unclear if New York courts would uphold Texas law, which forbids prescribing abortion medication by mail and telehealth services to Texas patients without a valid Texas medical license.
The woman allegedly took mifepristone and misoprostol when she was nine weeks pregnant. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Texas laws do not prosecute women for having abortions, but can prosecute physicians or others aiding in the procedure.
The lawsuit claims Carpenter, founder of the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine, provided treatment to Texas residents without a Texas license or authorization for telemedicine in the state. Paxton seeks to prevent Carpenter from infringing Texas law and impose civil penalties of at least $100,000 per violation.
Texas law states that physicians cannot prescribe abortion medication by mail and forbids physicians without a Texas license from providing telehealth services or prescribing medication to patients in the Lone Star State. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
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“In this case, an out-of-state doctor violated the law and caused serious harm to this patient,” Paxton stated. “This doctor prescribed abortion-inducing drugs — unauthorized, over telemedicine — causing her patient to end up in the hospital with serious complications. In Texas, we treasure the health and lives of mothers and babies, and this is why out-of-state doctors may not illegally and dangerously prescribe abortion-inducing drugs to Texas residents.”
Carpenter is affiliated with AidAccess, an international abortion medication provider, and co-founded Hey Jane, a telehealth abortion provider.
