A New York doctor, Dr. Margaret Carpenter, faces criminal charges in Louisiana for allegedly prescribing abortion pills online to patients in the state, which has one of the strictest abortion bans in the country. This case marks a potential turning point in the legal landscape surrounding abortion access since the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
A New York doctor has been indicted by a Louisiana grand jury for allegedly prescribing an abortion pill online in Louisiana, a state with one of the strictest near-total abortion bans in the country. Dr. Margaret Carpenter, her company Nightingale Medical, PC, and a third person were charged with criminal abortion by means of abortion-inducing drugs, a felony.
This case appears to be the first instance of criminal charges against a doctor accused of sending abortion pills to another state since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, leading to states enacting strict anti-abortion laws. Carpenter was also sued by the Texas attorney general in December under similar allegations of sending pills to that state, though that case did not involve criminal charges. Carpenter did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. The indictment comes just months after Louisiana became the first state to reclassify both mifepristone and misoprostol as “controlled dangerous substances.” While the drugs are still allowed, medical personnel must go through extra steps to access them. Under Louisiana's new law, knowingly possessing mifepristone or misoprostol without a valid prescription could result in a fine of up to $5,000 and imprisonment for one to five years. However, the law protects pregnant women who obtain the drugs without a prescription for their own use. Since the fall of Roe v. Wade, Louisiana has had a near-total abortion ban, excluding exceptions for rape or incest. Under this law, physicians convicted of performing an illegal abortion, including one with pills, face up to 15 years in prison, $200,000 in fines, and the loss of their medical license. The Abortion Coalition of Telemedicine, where Carpenter is one of the founders, condemned the indictment, stating, 'Make no mistake, since Roe v Wade was overturned, we’ve witnessed a disturbing pattern of interference with women’s rights.' They added, 'It’s no secret the United States has a history of violence and harassment against abortion providers, and this state-sponsored effort to prosecute a doctor providing safe and effective care should alarm everyone.' This indictment could be the first direct test of New York's shield laws, designed to protect prescribers who use telehealth to provide abortion pills to patients in states where abortion is banned. New York Governor Kathy Hochul stated, 'We always knew that overturning Roe v. Wade wasn’t the end of the road for anti-abortion politicians. That’s why I worked with the Legislature to pass nation-leading laws to protect providers and patients.' Attorney General Letitia James, who would enforce the shield law, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
ABORTION TELEMEDICINE LAW CRIMINAL CHARGES ROE V WADE
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