Latest news with #NewYorkStateShieldLaw
CBS News
28-03-2025
- Health
- CBS News
New York clerk refuses to enforce Texas' fine on abortion doctor
A New York county clerk refused to file a more than $100,000 judgment from Texas against a doctor accused of prescribing abortion pills to a woman near Dallas, setting up a potential challenge to laws designed to shield abortion providers who serve patients in states with abortion bans. A Texas judge last month ordered Dr. Margaret Carpenter, who practices north of New York City, to pay the penalty for allegedly breaking that state's law by prescribing abortion medication via telemedicine. The Texas attorney general's office followed up last week by asking a New York court to enforce the default civil judgment against Carpenter, which is $113,000 with attorney and filing fees. The acting Ulster County clerk refused. "In accordance with the New York State Shield Law, I have refused this filing and will refuse any similar filings that may come to our office. Since this decision is likely to result in further litigation, I must refrain from discussing specific details about the situation," Acting Clerk Taylor Bruck said in a prepared statement. Republican Texas State Attorney General Ken Paxton said he was outraged by the refusal and signaled he would take action. "New York is shredding the Constitution to hide lawbreakers from justice, and it must end," Paxton said on X. "I will not stop my efforts to enforce Texas's pro-life laws that protect our unborn children and mothers." New York is among eight states with telemedicine shield laws , which were considered a target for abortion opponents even before the standoff between officials New York and Texas. Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul last month invoked her state's shield law in rejecting Republican Gov. Jeff Landry's request to extradite Carpenter to Louisiana, where the doctor was charged with prescribing abortion pills to a pregnant minor. Hochul on Thursday praised Bruck's refusal and said "New York is grateful for his courage and common sense." New York Attorney General Letitia James also praised Bruck and said her office "will always defend New York's medical professionals and the people they serve." Bruck became acting county clerk last year after a resignation and has been endorsed by county Democrats for election to the post. As county clerk, he has an administrative role in court filings. A call seeking comment was made to Carpenter, who is the co-medical director and founder of the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine. Carpenter did not show up for a hearing in the case in Texas. Also in Texas, a Waller County judge issued a temporary injunction preventing a network of Houston-area clinics from reopening. The clinics were operated by a midwife accused by state authorities of performing illegal abortions. The ruling extends a temporary restraining order that shut down the clinics last week. Maria Margarita Rojas has been charged by Paxton's office with providing an illegal abortion and practicing medicine without a license. Two other individuals have also been charged. The charges in the case are the first time authorities in Texas have filed criminal counts under the state's near-total abortion ban. The attorney general's office has filed a lawsuit that's seeking to shut down three clinics northwest of Houston that Rojas operated and that authorities allege performed illegal abortion procedures.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
NY clerk refuses to enforce Texas' $100K fine against doctor for sending abortion pills
A New York county clerk on Thursday refused to enforce a Texas court fine of over $100,000 against a New York doctor accused of sending abortion pills to a Texas woman. The case filed against the doctor set up a legal battle that could change the landscape of abortion access in the U.S. Here's what we know about the case. People are also reading: Texans share emotional testimony on bills to further restrict abortion pills, travel Judge Bryan Gantt's filing was the first of its kind in finding a person liable under Texas House Bill 1280, which created steep civil and criminal penalties for illegally terminating a pregnancy. Texas bans abortions in almost all instances except when a pregnant person faces a "life-threatening condition," with no exceptions for rape, incest or fatal fetal anomalies. The case was also the first to challenge "shield laws" — laws intended to prevent states with abortion bans, like Texas, from punishing doctors in other states that support the procedure, like New York. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in December sued Dr. Margaret Daley Carpenter, who is licensed in New York and co-founded the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine Access in 2022, for allegedly prescribing and mailing mifepristone and misoprostol to a 20-year-old woman from Collin County, Paxton's home turf in North Texas. Both drugs are used to induce abortions and help clear miscarriages. The original lawsuit noted that the biological father, who was not previously informed about the pregnancy, according to the complaint, took the woman to the hospital after she began to hemorrhage. He later learned she had terminated the pregnancy after he discovered empty abortion pill boxes at the woman's residence. The man then filed a complaint with the attorney general's office, said Ernest Garcia, chief of the attorney general's administrative law division, during a Wednesday hearing, The New York Times reported. The ruling by Gantt, whom Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in September appointed to the 471st state District Court, is a default ruling that permanently forbids Carpenter from prescribing abortion pills and fines her $100,000, plus around $13,000 in attorney fees, for violating Texas' abortion ban. The fees will accrue at an interest rate of 7.5% each day until paid. New York's 2022 shield law bars public entities from cooperating with out-of-state investigations into reproductive health care services. It also protects against subpoenas and witness summons, and it prohibits the extradition of lawsuit defendants to other states. On Thursday, Ulster County (New York) Acting Clerk Taylor Bruck refused to enforce the fine against Dr. Carpenter. "In accordance with the New York State Shield Law, I have refused this filing and will refuse any similar filings that may come to our office. Since this decision is likely to result in further litigation, I must refrain from discussing specific details about the situation," Bruck said in a prepared statement. Paxton has condemned the clerk's refusal, saying he is "outraged" that Bruck won't fine a "radical abortionist" for "illegally peddling dangerous drugs across state lines." "New York is shredding the Constitution to hide lawbreakers from justice, and it must end," Paxton continued in a statement posted on X. "I will not stop my efforts to enforce Texas's [sic] pro-life laws that protect our unborn children and mothers." More on Texas' abortion ban: Houston area midwife charged with performing illegal abortions amid Texas' near-total ban In addition to the civil penalties ordered by the Texas judge, Carpenter is also facing criminal charges in Louisiana for prescribing an abortion pill to a teenager in that state. On Thursday, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry announced he had signed an extradition warrant for the OB-GYN, whom a state grand jury indicted in January for violating Louisiana's abortion ban. "There is only one right answer in this situation, and it's that that doctor must face extradition to Louisiana where she can stand trial and justice will be served," Landry said. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul swiftly denied the request. "Doctors take an oath to protect their patients. I took an oath of office to protect all New Yorkers," Hochul wrote on social media. "So let me be clear: I will not sign Louisiana's extradition order — not now, not ever." On Thursday, Hochul also voiced support for Bruck's refusal to enforce the Texas fine against Dr. Carpenter, saying, "New York is grateful for his courage and common sense." This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: NY clerk won't enforce Texas fine against doctor for abortion pills
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
NY court blocks Texas from filing summons against doctor who prescribed abortion pills
A New York county clerk used the state's shield law to stop Texas from punishing a New York doctor for prescribing and sending abortion medication to a Texas woman. The move is the latest escalation in an interstate battle between New York and Texas, their differing abortion laws and the future of Margaret Carpenter, a New York state doctor who works at a telemedicine abortion organization. In December, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against Carpenter for violating the state's abortion ban after she allegedly prescribed and mailed abortion medication to a 20-year-old Texan woman. Neither Carpenter nor her lawyer responded to the lawsuit or showed up to a hearing regarding the charges in Texas last month, according to The New York Times. A Texas judge ordered Carpenter last month to pay more than $100,000 in penalties for prescribing abortion medication to the Texas woman. The Texas attorney general's office then followed up with the New York clerk's office to see if it would enforce the default civil judgment. But the country clerk refused. 'In accordance with the New York State Shield Law, I have refused this filing and will refuse any similar filings that may come to our office,' said acting Ulster County Clerk Taylor Bruck in a statement. 'Since the decision is likely to result in further litigation, I must refrain from discussing specific details about the situation.' New York Attorney General Letitia James commended Bruck for the move. 'New York's shield law was created to protect patients and providers from out-of-state anti-choice attacks, and we will not allow anyone to undermine health care providers' ability to deliver necessary care to their patients,' James said in a statement. 'My office will always defend New York's medical professionals and the people they serve.' New York is one of eight states that has enacted a telemedicine abortion shield law that protects providers from extradition requests and other legal actions from officials in states with abortion restrictions for helping or performing abortions. Paxton said that the county clerk's decision would not stop him from pursuing other avenues to enforce Texas's abortion ban. 'I am outraged that New York would refuse to allow Texas to pursue enforcement of a civil judgment against a radical abortionist illegally peddling dangerous drugs across state lines. New York is shredding the Constitution to hide lawbreakers from justice, and it must end,' he said in a statement. 'I will not stop my efforts to enforce Texas's pro-life laws that protect our unborn children and mothers.' Updated at 4:17 p.m. EDT Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
New York Uses Rare Move to Block Texas's Anti-Abortion Crusade
New York has blocked Texas from filing a legal action against a local doctor accused of prescribing and sending abortion pills to a resident in the Lone Star State. 'In accordance with the New York State Shield Law, I have refused this filing and will refuse any similar filings that may come to our office,' Taylor Bruck, the acting clerk of Ulster County, said in a statement Thursday. 'Since this decision is likely to result in further litigation, I must refrain from discussing specific details about the situation.' Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Dr. Margaret Carpenter in December, accusing her of mailing the pills to a Collin County resident who allegedly consumed the medication when she was nine weeks pregnant. The lawsuit did not mention if the woman was successful in terminating her pregnancy. Paxton wanted Carpenter to cough up $100,000 for every violation of the state's near-total abortion ban—a potentially relatively light sentence, considering that violators of Texas's draconian abortion law can also face life in prison and have their Texas medical license revoked. The lawsuit was Texas's first attempt at suing an abortion provider across state lines, and is subsequently New York's first use of its shield law, which protects doctors and providers providing abortion care from out-of-state investigations and prosecutions. Pro-abortion advocates have argued that banning the procedure only bans safe abortions, forcing other women in need of abortion care to find alternative solutions. Last week, news broke that a Pennsylvania teenager and her mother were under investigation after fetal remains were reported in the family's backyard following a self-managed abortion, reported Jezebel. And recent reports have shown that lacking access to abortion care has actually made pregnancies drastically less safe. In Texas, where abortion hasn't been permitted despite the legislature's medical emergency clause, sepsis rates have skyrocketed by as much as 50 percent for women who lost their pregnancies during the second trimester, according to an investigative analysis by ProPublica. But Texas has still been brutal in enforcing its post-Roe v. Wade laws. In the last couple of weeks, two Houston-area abortion providers have been arrested and charged with providing illegal care, reported The Texas Tribune. The prescription commonly referred to as the 'abortion pill' is a two-step process of taking mifepristone and then misoprostol. The procedure accounts for more than half of all the abortions in the United States, according to a 2022 report by the Guttmacher Institute, and has become a crucial tool as abortion restrictions limit access to in-person medical visits. It is more than 95 percent effective at ending pregnancies when used before 10 weeks of pregnancy, according to statistics by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Access to mifepristone has become an increasingly fraught political issue since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. In October, the attorneys general of Kansas, Missouri, and Idaho—a cohort of states with some of the most draconian abortion restrictions in the nation—sued the federal government to limit access to the drug, arguing that the medication should be illegal for minors (misoprostol is fully legal as it is used for other treatments). The Supreme Court unexpectedly saved mifepristone access in June, when it unanimously ruled that a group of different plaintiffs, represented by the right-wing Christian legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, did not have legal standing to sue the Food and Drug Administration, and that the legal organization had failed to demonstrate how their clients were personally harmed by the drug's existence on the market. By and large, most Americans support abortion access. In a 2023 Gallup poll, just 12 percent of surveyed Americans said that abortion should be illegal in all circumstances. Meanwhile, 69 percent believe that it should be legal in the first trimester of pregnancy.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Ulster County rejects Texas motion against New York abortion prescriber
ALBANY, N.Y. (NEXSTAR) — Acting Ulster County Clerk Taylor Bruck rejected a Texas motion seeking a civil penalty of over $100,000 against Dr. Margaret Carpenter of New Paltz. The filing from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton targeted Carpenter for missing a court appearance after telehealth prescription of the abortion pill mifepristone to a Texan. Bruck told Paxton that New York's shield law stops the clerk's office from filing judgments from out-of-state legal actions. 'Since this decision is likely to result in further litigation, I must refrain from discussing specific details about the situation,' Bruck said. More Local News Governor Kathy Hochul denounced the Texas effort, saying it targets the New York doctor for prescribing medicine. 'The anti-woman, anti-abortion zealots are at it again,' she said. 'Today, the County Clerk in Ulster County bravely stood up with a simple message: hell no.' New York has already opted against extraditing Carpenter to Louisiana, where prosecutors brought charges on similar grounds. And on March 22, Hochul announced that she signed S4587/A5285 into law to strengthen the shield law already on the books. Inflatable baby protest highlights child care budget gap 'I commend the Ulster County Clerk for doing what is right,' said New York Attorney General Letitia James. 'New York's shield law was created to protect patients and providers from out-of-state anti-choice attacks, and we will not allow anyone to undermine health care providers' ability to deliver necessary care to their patients.' Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger and State Senator Michelle Hinchey also backed the decision. 'He is following the intent of the New York State Shield Law, which protects providers and patients from unjust legal action originating outside our state,' Metzger said. 'States have no business interfering in women's reproductive health decisions.' New York lawmakers slam federal cuts and closures at Social Security Hinchey, who represents New Paltz in the state legislature, said, 'New York will not bend to the extreme injustice of hostile, grandstanding Attorneys General weaponizing the legal system to control people's lives and bodies.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
