Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against a Delaware nurse practitioner, Debra Lynch, for allegedly prescribing abortion-inducing drugs to Texas residents. The lawsuit alleges violations of the state's Human Life Protection Act and practicing medicine without a license.
Suspect charged in Katy-area double murder is biological father of couple’s 7-year-old daughter48 minutes agoRider on dirt bike dies after colliding with pickup truck on Northwest Freeway Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has accused a Delaware nurse practitioner of prescribing abortion-inducing drugs to Texas residents in what is now the second lawsuit the state has filed against an out-of-state provider over such medications.
“The day of reckoning for this radical out-of-state abortion drug trafficker is here,” said Paxton in a news release on Tuesday about the lawsuit. “No one, regardless of where they live, will be freely allowed to aid in the murder of unborn children in Texas.”Debra Lynch, the principal defendant in the case, operates Her Safe Harbor, which also uses the name Delaware Community Care. The service is an online clinic which prescribes medication packages containing abortion-inducing mifepristone and misoprostol, as well as anti-nausea medication and ibuprofen. The organization claims to help women in all 50 states in seeking abortion medication, according to its The lawsuit alleges that Her Safe Harbor sent packages containing abortion medication to women in cities across Texas, including Beaumont, Fulshear, Tomball, Houston and El Paso. Texas is suing Lynch on two counts. The first is a violation of Texas’ Human Life Protection Act , which outlaws abortion unless performed by a physician and deemed medically necessary for the life of the mother. The second count levied against Lynch is practicing medicine without a license. According to the lawsuit, Lynch, who is a nurse practitioner, is not a licensed physician and is not licensed to practice medicine in Texas. The Texas Tribune reached out to Her Safe Harbor and Paxton’s office and requests for comment were not returned. Texas is seeking to place two injunctions on Lynch — one prohibiting her or any collaborators from “performing, inducing, or attempting abortions” and another prohibiting her or any collaborators from “practicing medicine without a physician’s license.” The previous lawsuit was a test of New York’s “shield laws,” which protect medical providers from out-of-state investigations and prosecutions. In that case, the New York doctor did not respond to the lawsuit which called on her to stop prescribing abortion-inducing medication to Texas residents and imposed $100,000 in civil penalties. Subsequently, a New York judge. The bill broadened “shield law” protections established in 2022 by protecting providers from out-of-state prosecution after they have delivered health care services that are legal in the state. Although Delaware and New York’s “shield laws” operate in similar ways, their language differs, according to Rebouche. New York’s laws protect a provider regardless of where their patients are located, whereas Delaware’s doesn’t. Whether or not this difference will result in an outcome different from the New York case will depend on the Delaware courts, according to Rachel Rebouche, a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin. The lawsuit against Lynch hinges primarily on three pieces of evidence, all of which are news articles in which Lynch commented. One is aThe January Austin American-Statesman article reported that Lynch helped facilitate up to 162 abortions per week. The court case’s venue is set for Jefferson County in Southeast Texas because, according to the lawsuit, a “substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to this claim occurred” in the county. Lynch has the right to not appear in court because her business is not incorporated in Texas, according to Rebouche. From this point forward, she expects the Texas court to enter a default judgement against Her Safe Harbor, at which point Texas will likely go to Delaware and ask them to enforce the judgement. According to Rebouche, this is also how the case in New York played out.In recent years, the state has leaned heavily on the courts to help curb the flow of abortion pills into the state.allowing private citizens to sue anyone who manufactures, distributes, mails or provides abortion medication to or from Texas. Citizens who win the lawsuit can get at least $100,000 from the defendant if they are related to the fetus. If they are not, they can only receive $10,000 and would have to donate the rest of the money to a charity or nonprofit. Paxton’s office has also helped prosecute two men who were accused of slipping their partners abortion-inducing pills. Whether or not Texas is successful in Delaware, Rebouche does not think abortion rates will lower in Texas, citing increasing numbers of abortions in Texas following the state’s lawsuit against the New York provider, according to #WeCount. “It suggests to me that a lot of what’s happening in the courts with these lawsuits is not affecting what’s happening on the ground and how people are practically accessing medication abortions,” Rebouche said. Disclosure: New York Times and University of Texas at Austin have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a completeHouston officers outside offices of Arnold & Itkin after deadly jet crashBuc-ee’s T-Shirt Frozen Solid in Just 15 MinutesIcy Roads at Lake Conroe This Morning | Don’t Drive Unless NecessaryWater spewing into air after water main break during Houston winter stormBig topics from Houston Mayor's winter storm press conferenceHouston Weather Update: Tracking Changes Throughout the DayHow to take care of your pool in freezing weather
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