A New York doctor and Louisiana mother are accused of providing abortion medication to her daughter and facing felony charges under Louisiana law. (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)
A New York doctor and the mother of a teen in Louisiana were accused of providing abortion medication in violation of Louisiana statute and indicted by a grand jury on felony charges on Friday.
Approved in 2022, the state law banned obtaining abortion drugs from out of state and causing an abortion through medication. Penalties in Louisiana range from one to five years in prison, and $5,000 to $50,000 in fines.
But New York has a law in place to shield doctors who prescribe abortion medication to patients in other states.
The criminal case comes a month after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the same New York abortion provider — the founder of the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine, a group that provides medication abortions via telehealth.
Louisiana Illuminator’s Lorena O’Neil reports:
It is the first criminal case of its kind in the country since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, which triggered Louisiana’s strict abortion ban.
Dr. Margaret Carpenter; her company Nightingale Medical; and the mother of the minor in question were all indicted by the District Court for the Parish of West Baton Rouge. The Illuminator is not identifying the mother in order to protect the minor’s identity.
Prosecutors say the mother ordered abortion medication from Carpenter, who sent it to her in the mail, and that the mother reportedly gave it to her pregnant daughter.
Republican Attorney General Liz Murrill weighed in on the indictments via social media Friday.
“It is illegal to send abortion pills into this State and it’s illegal to coerce another into having an abortion,” Murrill said. “I have said it before and I will say it again: We will hold individuals accountable for breaking the law.”
In a statement to the Illuminator, ACT said it stands behind New York’s shield laws.
“The case out of Louisiana against a licensed New York doctor is the latest in a series of threats that jeopardizes women’s access to reproductive healthcare throughout this country,” reads the statement. “… This state-sponsored effort to prosecute a doctor providing safe and effective care should alarm everyone.”
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