New York doctor sued for mailing abortion pills to Texas woman

Texas has some of the toughest laws restricting abortion in the country, and the case pits state laws regulating the procedure against each other.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed the civil suit on Thursday against Margaret Carpenter, the New York-based founder of the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine.

The attorney general's office said Carpenter provided a 20-year-old Texas woman with "abortion-inducing drugs that ended the life of an unborn child and resulted in serious complications for the mother."

"Texas laws prohibit a physician or medical supplier from providing any abortion-inducing drugs by courier, delivery, or mail service," it said.

In addition, "no physician may treat patients or prescribe Texas residents medicine through telehealth services unless the doctor holds a valid Texas medical license."

Carpenter is not a licensed physician in Texas.

The attorney general is seeking an injunction against Carpenter barring her from illegally practicing medicine in Texas and from prescribing abortion pills to state residents.

He is also seeking a $100,000 fine for each violation.

"In Texas, we treasure the health and lives of mothers and babies, and this is why out-of-state doctors may not illegally and dangerously prescribe abortion-inducing drugs to Texas residents," Paxton said.

Democratic-controlled New York has passed a so-called shield law which provides legal protection to New York doctors who send abortion pills to women in states where the procedure has been outlawed.

New York Attorney General Letitia James responded to the suit by saying "abortion is, and will continue to be, legal and protected in New York."

"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," James said in a statement.

"I will continue to defend reproductive freedom and justice for New Yorkers, including from out-of-state anti-choice attacks."

Eighteen Democratic-ruled states have enacted shield laws since the US Supreme Court struck down the nationwide right to abortion in 2022, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights.

In June of this year, the top court rejected a bid by anti-abortion groups to restrict mifepristone, the pill widely used to terminate pregnancies in the United States.

The Texas lawsuit raises thorny legal questions for the courts about what is known as extraterritoriality, the application of one state's laws to another.