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12h ago

New York Clerk Twice Blocks Texas Judgment Against Abortion Pill Prescriber

The refusal under New York’s shield law deepens an interstate legal conflict over telemedicine abortion access by paving a path toward the Supreme Court.

Used boxes of Mifepristone, the first pill in a medical abortion, line a trash can at Alamo Women's Clinic in Carbondale, Illinois, U.S., April 20, 2023. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo
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Overview

  • Acting Ulster County Clerk Taylor Bruck relied on New York’s shield law to reject a second enforcement request for the over $100,000 default judgment against Dr. Margaret Carpenter.
  • A Collin County judge entered the default judgment in February after Carpenter did not answer a civil suit alleging she prescribed mifepristone and misoprostol to a Texas patient via telemedicine.
  • Gov. Kathy Hochul backed the clerk’s decision and earlier invoked the shield law to refuse Louisiana’s extradition request for Carpenter on criminal abortion charges.
  • Carpenter is indicted in Louisiana for prescribing abortion pills to a minor, creating an unprecedented out-of-state criminal case against a telemedicine abortion provider.
  • Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has pledged further legal action to compel enforcement of the judgment, a fight legal experts expect may reach the U.S. Supreme Court.