A New York county clerk declined to enforce Texas’ civil judgment against a doctor who prescribed abortion pills to a patient via telehealth, escalating an interstate legal battle that is expected to end up before the Supreme Court.
Citing New York’s shield laws, acting Ulster County Clerk Taylor Bruck informed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Thursday that he will not file a more than $100,000 judgment against Dr. Margaret Daly Carpenter, a physician who practices in upstate New York. Any similar filings that come his way will also be rejected, Bruck added.
“Since this decision is likely to result in further litigation, I must refrain from discussing specific details about the situation,” Bruck said in a statement.
Carpenter was sued by Paxton’s office in December for prescribing abortion pills via telemedicine to a patient who lives near Dallas. Paxton accused Carpenter of violating Texas law by practicing medicine in the state without a local license. Last month, a Texas judge ordered Carpenter to stop prescribing abortion pills to patients in the state and issued her a more than $100,000 fine.
Paxton, in a statement on X, said that he was “outraged” over the county clerk’s refusal to allow his state to enforce the judgment against Carpenter, whom he called “a radical abortionist illegally peddling dangerous drugs across state lines.” (Ample research has shown that mifepristone and misoprostol, the two pills that induce an abortion, are safe and effective.)
Carpenter is also facing criminal charges in Louisiana for allegedly prescribing abortion pills to a patient in the state. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul last month rejected Louisiana’s request to extradite Carpenter, setting up another potential showdown over New York’s shield laws.
New York is one of more than a dozen states with legislation to protect patients, health care providers or others who help people access reproductive care in states where it is outlawed. Texas’ case against Carpenter — as well as Louisiana’s — are likely to be scrutinized by federal courts and eventually reach the Supreme Court.
Carpenter has not made any public statements about either case. The Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine, a group co-founded by Carpenter that supports telehealth abortion providers across the country, commended Bruck’s actions in a statement to MSNBC:
Shield laws are a critical safeguard that protect both providers and patients nationwide. As anti-abortion states escalate attacks beyond their borders, it is more important than ever that New York’s legal system continues to defend access to care.
