Louisiana has one of the toughest abortion laws in the United States. It forbids abortion throughout pregnancy, with a few very narrow exceptions. A doctor who breaks the law could face not only the loss of their license but also as much as 15 years in prison and $200,000 in fines.
People often think of abortion as a surgical procedure, but doctors can prescribe certain medications that induce the end of a pregnancy as well. In fact, the majority of abortions in the U.S. occur via medication. Louisiana includes this method of abortion in its ban. Last week, a grand jury there indicted a doctor in New York for prescribing abortion drugs to a pregnant teenager in Port Allen, across the Mississippi River from Baton Rouge.
The teenager’s mother allegedly contacted the doctor, Margaret Carpenter, through an online questionnaire last year. She asked for abortion drugs for her daughter. Prosecutors say that Carpenter sent a “cocktail of pills” to the mother. Unfortunately, the teenager suffered a medical emergency after taking the medication and needed treatment in the hospital. When they responded to the 911 call, the police found out about the abortion drugs. An investigation traced them to Carpenter and her business, Nightingale Medical.
This marks the first time that a doctor has faced prosecution for sending abortion drugs to another state. A conflict may loom between Louisiana and New York, which enacted a “shield law” in 2023. This protects doctors in New York who prescribe abortion pills to people in states that have banned the procedure. It blocks officials from cooperating with out-of-state arrest warrants or extradition requests in these situations.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has said that she will not agree to any request to extradite Carpenter to Louisiana. New York Attorney General Letitia James voiced similar opposition. However, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill has reiterated her commitment to holding people accountable for violating her state’s abortion law.
This isn’t the only legal trouble that Carpenter has faced over abortion pills. Near the end of last year, the Texas Attorney General sued the doctor for sending abortion drugs to Texas. However, she doesn’t face criminal charges in Texas.
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