Doctors can use the name of their medical practices instead of their own when prescribing abortion pills under legislation that New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed into law Monday.
The law aims to protect doctors who provide care to patients in states that ban such medication.
Hochul’s doubling down on abortion access comes as she continued to support a New York doctor who was criminally indicted by a Louisiana grand jury for providing abortion pills online to a minor in the southern state. The case, which is the first-known instance of a doctor facing prosecution for providing abortion care to a patient in a state criminalizing the procedure, could serve as a litmus test for the strength of New York's shield laws in the face of conservative states' contradicting policies.
In what has become a growing fight over abortion healthcare in the country since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Hochul said the Democratic state would stand on the side of doctors.
“Providing abortion care by telehealth or mail can be a life-saving intervention for people living in states where their most basic right to control their own bodies is denied,” Hochul said at a press conference while surrounded by women lawmakers and reproductive rights advocates. “I must stand up and protect our doctors.”
The law on prescription labels is the latest addition to “shield laws” that the state has implemented in anticipation of Roe v. Wade being overturned and afterward. Hochul said the state’s shield laws apply to Dr. Margaret Carpenter, who faces up to five years in prison and $50,000 in fines if found guilty of the criminal charge from a West Baton Rouge grand jury.
“There's no way in hell,” Hochul said regarding Carpenter’s case, that New York will “ever respond to a request to extradite this individual and face criminal charges.”
New York legally allows state officials to not cooperate if other states sue or prosecute doctors for sending pills to states with abortion bans, and provides protections for those who provide care via telehealth. New York is one of eight states that protect doctors regardless of where a patient is located.
State Sen. Shelley Mayer, who cosponsored the bill, said doctors in New York have sent thousands of abortion pills to individuals each month “who might not otherwise be able to access safe abortion care.”
“The risks to these providers are no longer abstract,” the Yonkers Democrat said. “And we know our law is about to be tested, but we're not backing down.”
Hochul vows to defend New York doctor
Hochul and lawmakers said the state’s shield laws are critical in defending doctors like Carpenter as conservative states continue to “weaponize” abortion access.
One of those lawmakers included state Sen. Michelle Hinchey, D- Saugerties, Ulster County, who is a personal family friend of Carpenter and represents her in the statehouse.
"There is no one who believes in their oath to do good, to help people in their time of need than this doctor,” Hinchey said. "It is our responsibility to step up for her ... to make sure that we are doing everything we can to provide everyone across this country with the health care that they deserve.”
Hochul said her staff has been in touch with Carpenter’s team as the doctor faces criminal charges in Louisiana.
Local outlets reported that the district attorney overseeing the case said the minor who allegedly received the prescription from Carpenter did not want an abortion. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said the abortion was “coerced.”
Hochul questioned if the claims were true when asked by the New York Public News Network.
“I'm not sure that that's not just a Republican distraction from what they're trying to do,” she said. “That is irrelevant to my obligation to protect a New York state doctor for prescribing telemedicine to the individual who requested it, which I believe is the patient's mother.”
Some lawmakers call for more protections
Hochul said the state is pushing to amend state laws that would ensure pharmacies follow the new label laws. She additionally wants to only require that the address of a medical practice be included on a prescription label, and not the name of the practice as well; she’s advocating that change be made to laws that are currently on the books.
While state Assemblymember Amy Paulin, D-Scarsdale, Westchester County, called the newly passed law “a great step,” she said the bill may not protect doctors in single practices.
“The address on there would still be her own,” she said, if the doctor is “the only doctor in the practice.”
Paulin is proposing the state allow a prescription not specific to a particular patient so that abortion medication can essentially be “behind the counter.”
If abortion pills are not accessible over the counter, she said, “we're going to create a fear among these practitioners that if they continue their work, that we’re going to stop abortion care.”
When asked about what could be done to protect doctors who are sole practitioners, Hochul said she would be open to suggestions.
“If there's another way to protect an individual, I will do it,” she said. “We're just dealing in real time.”
Carpenter also was named in December in what is believed to be the first civil lawsuit against a doctor for sending abortion pills to a patient in Texas. The state’s attorney general, Ken Paxton, challenged New York’s shield law, which set the course for state and possibly federal courts to adjudicate between contradictory abortion laws from different states.
Carpenter’s practice did not respond to calls asking for comment.
