A Louisiana grand jury indicted a New York doctor Friday after prosecutors said she allegedly prescribed abortion pills online to an individual in a state that has one of the strictest abortion bans across the country.
According to the Associated Press, it appears to be the first time a doctor has been criminally charged for allegedly sending pills across state lines since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, which allowed states to implement strict abortion laws.
Dr. Margaret Carpenter and her company — Nightingale Medical, PC — were charged by grand jurors at the District Court for the Parish of West Baton Rouge with criminal abortion by means of abortion-inducing drugs, which is a felony in the state. The decision was unanimous. A third person was also charged.
According to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, the pill administered was mifepristone.
Carpenter, who practices in the Hudson Valley, was previously sued by the Texas attorney general in December for similarly sending pills to Texas, but it didn’t involve criminal charges.
“It is illegal to send abortion pills into this State and it’s illegal to coerce another into having an abortion,” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said on X, a social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “We will hold individuals accountable for breaking the law.”
New York State Attorney General Letitia James called the indictment a “direct and brazen” attack on the right to reproductive freedom.
“This cowardly attempt out of Louisiana to weaponize the law against out-of-state providers is unjust and un-American,” James said in a statement. “We will not allow bad actors to undermine our providers’ ability to deliver critical care.”
Hochul called the indictment “outrageous.”
“This is exactly what we feared,” Hochul said in a video statement.
She vowed to protect Carpenter from any extradition request to Louisiana through “shield laws” that provide state legal protections to providers who prescribe abortion medication to patients living in states where such medication may be restricted or banned.
“I will never, under any circumstances, turn this doctor to the State of Louisiana under any extradition request,” Hochul said. “I will do everything I can to protect this doctor and allow her to continue to do the work that she’s doing that is so essential.”
Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, Louisiana passed a near-total abortion ban that has no exceptions for rape and incest. Physicians convicted of performing an illegal abortion can face up to 15 years in prison and fines of $200,000.
Carpenter and Nightingale Medical did not respond to immediate requests for comment.
