Latest news with #HouseCivilLawandProcedureCommittee
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Louisiana investigating second abortion pill case against New York doctor
Louisiana's attorney general is investigating a second case involving New York doctor Margaret Carpenter after she allegedly prescribed and mailed abortion medication to another woman in the state, this time located in the city of Shreveport. The Shreveport woman was 20 weeks pregnant when she took the abortion medication and subsequently went into labor, Attorney General Liz Murrill said during a testimony for an anti-abortion bill in the state's House Civil Law and Procedure Committee on Monday. 'She and her boyfriend, after she gave birth, took the baby, wrapped it in a towel, and threw it in a garbage can,' she said. The couple went to the hospital and were told to retrieve the baby, which the boyfriend did, Murrill said, adding that local law enforcement is also investigating the incident. Medication abortions typically involve consuming a combination of the drugs mifepristone and misoprostol and are recommended up until 10 weeks of pregnancy. Afterwards, health care providers recommend that those wishing to terminate a pregnancy undergo a surgical abortion. Murrill did not say why she believes it was Carpenter who mailed the abortion medication to the woman in Shreveport. Murrill's office did not immediately respond to questions from The Hill nor did Carpenter. A Louisiana grand jury indicted Carpenter in January for violating a state law after she allegedly prescribed abortion medication to a woman in the state who then gave it to her teenage daughter. State law enforcement issued an arrest warrant for Carpenter, and she was charged with criminal abortion by means of abortion inducing drugs. Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry issued an extradition request for Carpenter, who co-founded the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton also sued Carpenter last year for allegedly prescribing and mailing abortion pills to a woman in the state. New York Governor Kathy Hochul rejected Landry's extradition request, vowing to protect the doctor and never sign an extradition request from the state. New York is one of about eight blue states that after the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade have enacted an abortion 'shield law' to protect abortion providers regardless of the location of their patients. The newly introduced bill in Louisiana would make it easier for the state to punish abortion providers who send medication in the mail. House Bill 575 would allow Louisianans to sue any person or entity that 'causes or substantially facilitates an abortion.' Under the bill, people can sue even if the attempted medication abortion does not end the pregnancy. 'It is another mechanism, it is another tool in the toolbox for people who are harmed by somebody who is intent on violating our laws,' said Murrill. 'We're not going to stop trying to extradite her and prosecute her for the crimes that she's committing in our state,' she added, referring to Carpenter. Hochul doubled down Tuesday on her commitment to protect Carpenter against further cases from Louisiana. 'Anti-choice zealots can file as many cases as they want. In New York, we protect our providers,' the governor posted to the social media platform X. 'Let me be clear: we will never comply with Louisiana's extradition request. Not now, not ever.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
13-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Louisiana investigating second abortion pill case against New York doctor
Louisiana's attorney general is investigating a second case involving New York doctor Margaret Carpenter after she allegedly prescribed and mailed abortion medication to another woman in the state, this time located in the city of Shreveport. The Shreveport woman was 20 weeks pregnant when she took the abortion medication and subsequently went into labor, Attorney General Liz Murrill said during a testimony for an anti-abortion bill in the state's House Civil Law and Procedure Committee on Monday. 'She and her boyfriend, after she gave birth, took the baby, wrapped it in a towel, and threw it in a garbage can,' she said. The couple went to the hospital and were told to retrieve the baby, which the boyfriend did, Murrill said, adding that local law enforcement is also investigating the incident. Medication abortions typically involve consuming a combination of the drugs mifepristone and misoprostol and are recommended up until 10 weeks of pregnancy. Afterwards, health care providers recommend that those wishing to terminate a pregnancy undergo a surgical abortion. Murrill did not say why she believes it was Carpenter who mailed the abortion medication to the woman in Shreveport. Murrill's office did not immediately respond to questions from The Hill nor did Carpenter. A Louisiana grand jury indicted Carpenter in January for violating a state law after she allegedly prescribed abortion medication to a woman in the state who then gave it to her teenage daughter. State law enforcement issued an arrest warrant for Carpenter, and she was charged with criminal abortion by means of abortion inducing drugs. Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry issued an extradition request for Carpenter, who co-founded the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton also sued Carpenter last year for allegedly prescribing and mailing abortion pills to a woman in the state. New York Governor Kathy Hochul rejected Landry's extradition request, vowing to protect the doctor and never sign an extradition request from the state. New York is one of about eight blue states that after the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade have enacted an abortion 'shield law' to protect abortion providers regardless of the location of their patients. The newly introduced bill in Louisiana would make it easier for the state to punish abortion providers who send medication in the mail. House Bill 575 would allow Louisianans to sue any person or entity that 'causes or substantially facilitates an abortion.' Under the bill, people can sue even if the attempted medication abortion does not end the pregnancy. 'It is another mechanism, it is another tool in the toolbox for people who are harmed by somebody who is intent on violating our laws,' said Murrill. 'We're not going to stop trying to extradite her and prosecute her for the crimes that she's committing in our state,' she added, referring to Carpenter. Hochul doubled down Tuesday on her commitment to protect Carpenter against further cases from Louisiana. 'Anti-choice zealots can file as many cases as they want. In New York, we protect our providers,' the governor posted to the social media platform X. 'Let me be clear: we will never comply with Louisiana's extradition request. Not now, not ever.'
American Press
07-05-2025
- Business
- American Press
Teacher stipends survive committee, could be headed to House floor for a vote
By Nolan McKendry | The Center Square Louisiana lawmakers are moving forward this week with a more targeted version of the defeated Amendment 2, which voters rejected in March for being overly complex and far-reaching. On Monday, the House Civil Law and Procedure Committee advanced House Bill 678, a pared-down constitutional amendment that focuses solely on consolidating the state's two primary savings accounts and a companion bill that would fund $2,000 stipends for the state's teachers. HB678, which passed without objection, is a substitute for the original HB472 and is a central piece of lawmakers' effort to revive key elements of the failed 130-page rewrite of Article VII. The new version is significantly shorter — just five pages of actual bill language and three pages of digest — and is framed as a 'single-issue' measure. 'This particular amendment—of course when I first drafted it—it was still part of the Article VII rewrite, which was very, very lengthy,' Rep. Julie Emerson, R-Carencro, told the committee. 'But we always intended on making it smaller. I was just trying to meet the bill filing deadlines. In Ways and Means, we amended it down to just the fund combination.' The proposed amendment would merge the Budget Stabilization Fund (commonly known as the Rainy Day Fund) with the Revenue Stabilization Trust Fund, and repeal the latter. It would also eliminate current caps on mineral revenues flowing into the general fund, thereby potentially increasing recurring revenue for the state. 'If you remember in Amendment 2, we were combining our two savings accounts,' Emerson said. 'This is the statutory companion. This allows us to grow that fund to about $3 billion. It's a single issue. I would say pretty simple, but obviously, it's a little bit legal — talking about Revenue Stabilization and Budget Stabilization — but that is exactly what the language says we're doing.' The amendment proposes changes to several sections of Article VII of the state constitution and would go before voters on Nov. 3, 2026, a date chosen to coincide with a high-turnout election cycle. The measure is part of a broader effort to revive fiscal reforms contained in the failed March amendment, but this time through standalone bills to avoid overwhelming voters. A companion bill, HB473, which also passed committee without objection, would reallocate savings generated by HB678 to pay down the state's unfunded liabilities in the Teachers Retirement System of Louisiana. That move is intended to eventually fund $2,000 stipends for teachers —though those payments would not arrive until November 2026 at the earliest.
