Overview
- Acting Ulster County Clerk Taylor Bruck rejected a second demand from Texas to file a default civil judgment against Dr. Margaret Carpenter for prescribing abortion pills via telemedicine.
- Bruck cited the shield law passed in 2023, which expressly bars state agencies from enforcing out-of-state bans or penalties against abortion providers serving New Yorkers.
- Governor Kathy Hochul praised the refusal, declaring that New York will not be intimidated by efforts to curtail abortion access.
- Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton maintains that New York civil procedure requires enforcement of the judgment and plans to challenge the shield law in federal court.
- Legal analysts predict the escalating interstate dispute over shield laws and telemedicine abortion access is likely headed for a Supreme Court showdown.