Overview

• Attorney General Letitia James notified an Ulster County judge that she is intervening and will file written arguments defending New York’s shield law by September 19.
• Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued New York physician Dr. Margaret Carpenter in December 2024; a Texas judge in February ordered her to stop providing pills to Texans and to pay more than $113,000 after she did not appear.
• Acting Ulster County Clerk Taylor Bruck refused in March and again in July to file or enforce the Texas judgment, citing New York’s shield law, prompting Paxton to sue the clerk and argue a Full Faith and Credit violation.
• New York’s statute bars cooperation with out-of-state abortion enforcement; Gov. Kathy Hochul previously denied Louisiana’s extradition request after a grand jury there indicted Carpenter.
• Legal analysts say the cross-state clash could become a vehicle for Supreme Court review, as more than 20 states and Washington, D.C., have shield protections and Texas lawmakers advance a bill enabling private suits over mailed abortion pills.