A Louisiana grand jury on Friday indicted a New York doctor for allegedly prescribing abortion pills to a minor patient in the southern state, in what appears to be the first criminal case against an abortion provider since Roe v. Wade was overturned.
Dr. Margaret Daley Carpenter and her company Nightingale Medical have been charged with criminal abortion by means of abortion-inducing drugs, The Associated Press reported. The patient’s mother, who prosecutors say ordered the pills online for her daughter, has also been charged with the same felony crime, according to the AP.
Abortion is almost completely banned in Louisiana, with few exceptions. Abortion laws in the state are among the most restrictive in the country.
Louisiana prosecutors said the charges are centered on coercion. District Attorney Tony Clayton, who brought the charges, said that the minor did not want the abortion, The New York Times reported. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill also said the case has “nothing to do with reproductive healthcare.”
“This is about coercion. This is about forcing somebody to have an abortion who didn’t want one,” she said.








