Texas sues out-of-state doctor over mailing abortion pills
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A box of mifepristone pills on a robot outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on March 26. Photo: Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) sued a New York doctor for sending abortion medication under the Empire State's shield law to Texas, which has a near-total abortion ban, his office said Friday.
Why it matters: The lawsuit, one of the first known of its kind, tests the future of shield laws enacted by blue states in the post-Roe era to help patients who live in states with abortion bans.
- Paxton filed the complaint on Thursday against Dr. Margaret Daley Carpenter, co-founder of the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine (ACT). New York's shield law protects providers and others who help patients outside New York access abortion via telemedicine.
- ACT said in a statement to Axios: "Ken Paxton is prioritizing his anti-abortion agenda over the health and well-being of women by attempting to shut down telemedicine abortion nationwide."
- "Shield laws are essential in safeguarding and enabling abortion care regardless of a patient's zip code or ability to pay. They are fundamental to ensuring everyone can access reproductive health care as a human right."
Zoom out: Most abortions in the U.S. involve pills rather than in-person procedures, and the number of abortions provided annually has risen since the Dobbs decision.
Zoom in: Paxton said Carpenter prescribed pills commonly used to end a pregnancy, mifepristone and misoprostol, to a 20-year-old woman in Collin County, Texas, per the complaint filed Thursday.
- She experienced complications and was taken to the hospital, the state said, by a man described as the "biological father of the unborn child." The man learned after the fact that the woman had been pregnant, per the complaint.
- Paxton is requesting that Carpenter be fined $100,000 per "violation" and that the court block her from violating Texas law.
- "Carpenter is not a licensed Texas physician, nor is she authorized to practice telemedicine in the State of Texas," the complaint said.
New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) said in a statement: "We will always protect our providers from unjust attempts to punish them for doing their job and we will never cower in the face of intimidation or threats."
- "I will continue to defend reproductive freedom and justice for New Yorkers, including from out-of-state anti-choice attacks."
What they're saying: "The truce over interstate abortion fights is over," Mary Ziegler, a leading abortion historian and law professor at UC Davis, said on X.
- "What will it mean for the GOP to say abortion should be left to the states now?" she added.
The big picture: Anti-abortion advocates have been preparing to challenge abortion pill access once President-elect Trump takes office next year.
- Anti-abortion advocates have been waiting for the "right case," to test these laws," the New York Times reported in February.
- Trump, in an interview released on Thursday, said he'd ensure the FDA doesn't block access to abortion pills. It was the first time he made such a commitment.
- The Supreme Court in June threw out an abortion pill case, preserving access to the medication without actually ruling on the merits of the case.
By the numbers: More than 9,700 abortions were provided monthly via telehealth under shield law protections in the second quarter of 2024, Society of Family Planning's #WeCount report.
- This marked a 5% increase since the first quarter of 2024.
Go deeper:
- Abortion provider protections prove crucial in a post-Roe world
- Texas abortion ban 3 years on: Forcing patients out of state, fueling 2024 debate
Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional comment.
