Louisiana officials trying to indict New York doctors who sent abortion drugs to New York residents were thrown into obstacles on Thursday when New York governor Kathy Hochul said he would block an attempt to hand over him. Ta.
Hochul's declaration sets the stage for possible fighting in federal courts over whether states that support abortion rights can protect doctors who provide abortion services to state patients with abortion bans. It's set.
The Louisiana case is the first criminal charge to test states' key strategies in favour of abortion rights: the so-called Shield Act is enacted in eight states, with officials and agencies in those states experiencing abortions and states. Provisions not to cooperate with legal action taken against out-of-state abortion providers.
Louisiana's extradition order was for Dr. Margaret Daly Carpenter of New Paltz, New York in January, and Louisiana's big ju judge issued a criminal charge against Dr. Carpenter, bringing a pregnant teenager He accused him of violating Louisiana's near-hard schism ban by sending pills. In that state.
“We will not sign an extradition order from the Louisiana governor, not now, not now,” Hochul said at a press conference Thursday.
The Louisiana charge follows another civil lawsuit filed against Dr. Carpenter in December by the Texas Attorney General, which she bans abortion in the state by prescribing and sending pills to women there. He claimed he had flicked.
On Thursday, a Texas judge issued the first sentence in that case, ordered doctors to stop prescribing and sending abortion pills to Texas patients, and fined more than $100,000. A permanent injunction has been issued. Because New York's Shield Act prohibits cooperation with out-of-state legal action, Dr. Carpenter and her attorneys either have not responded to the Texas case or appeared in court for a hearing Wednesday. As a result, the judge said Dr. Carpenter was defaulting to legal proceedings and granted the Attorney General's motion.
Dr. Carpenter, a reproductive health specialist who works with telehealth abortion organizations, could not contact her for comment or be a lawyer representing her.
Telemedicine's Abortion Coalition, an organization co-founded by Dr. Carpenter, has issued a statement defending her job and those who help provide abortion medications to women in all 50 states. “The country's efforts to prosecute doctors providing safe and effective care should be on the lookout for everyone,” the coalition said in a recent statement on the Louisiana charges.
Earlier this week, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry signed a warrant asking Dr. Carpenter to be forced to withstand trials in Louisiana. “There is only one correct answer to this situation. Doctors must face extradition to Louisiana where justice is provided,” Landry said in a post on X on Thursday.
Hochul's office received the warrant Thursday afternoon, urging a press conference.
“We have introduced strict shielding methods to predict this situation,” Hochul said. She added that she told law enforcement across the state should not enforce certain out-of-state warrants against doctors “protected under our laws.”
The potential outcome of a court battle between Louisiana and New York is unknown, but Mary Ziegler, a law professor and abortion expert at the University of California Davis, is accused who was not present in the accused. said there is a legal precedent that delivery is not necessary. A state where a suspicious crime was committed and did not flee the state.
The indictment against Dr. Carpenter, which contains most details, said the case involved a patient under the age of 18 and whose mother ordered abortion medication and gave her in April 2024. He was arrested and released on bonds. The New York Times has not revealed her name to protect her daughter's privacy.
Louisiana officials say the mother forced her daughter to take pills, but they also say the mother wasn't with her daughter at the time the pills were taken. Hochul says he doesn't know if there's any compulsion.
Hochul is looking for ways to protect doctors like Carpenter. Last week, she signed a law that would allow healthcare workers to avoid naming prescriptions for drugs used in abortions and instead use the name of medical practice.
She said the hope was to better hide the identity of providers that could end up in the cross hair of state prosecutors with otherwise restrictive abortion laws.
This is one of several fights that Hochul has with Republican political leaders across Washington and across the country. On Wednesday, the Trump administration sued New York over immigration policies, accusing state officials of prioritizing “illegal foreigners over American citizens.”
In response, Hochul, who was scheduled to meet President Trump in Washington on Thursday but was cancelled when the lawsuit was made public, blew up the merits of the case with Attorney General Pam Bondy.
“New York is not retreating,” Hochul said.
