Overview

• Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a petition for a writ of mandamus on July 28 to compel Ulster County Clerk Taylor Bruck to lodge and enforce a $100,000 judgment against Dr. Margaret Carpenter
• The default judgment was issued in February after Carpenter failed to respond to a Texas lawsuit alleging she mailed abortion pills to a Texas patient
• Bruck has twice cited New York’s 2023 shield law to reject enforcement of out-of-state abortion-related penalties
• Governor Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James have publicly vowed to bar extradition or cooperation with Texas authorities over the case
• Legal analysts warn the interstate dispute could advance through federal appeals and reach the U.S. Supreme Court to settle conflicts over state sovereignty and full-faith-and-credit obligations