A county clerk in New York decided on Thursday not to process a judgment exceeding $100,000 from Texas against a physician accused of prescribing abortion medication to a woman near Dallas. This decision potentially sets the stage for legal conflicts over regulations intended to protect medical providers who offer services to patients in areas with strict abortion prohibitions.
Dr. Margaret Carpenter, who practices in the northern region of New York City, was ordered by a Texas judge last month to pay the fine. She was accused of violating the state’s law by providing abortion pills through telehealth services. Following this, the Texas attorney general’s office appealed to a New York court last week, aiming to enforce the civil judgment, which includes legal and processing expenses, totaling $113,000.
However, the acting Ulster County clerk chose not to comply. “Consistent with the New York State Shield Law, I have declined this submission and will similarly reject any comparable filings that reach our premise. As this decision might prompt additional legal action, I am unable to discuss the particulars at this time,” stated Acting Clerk Taylor Bruck in a formal statement.
Texas’s Republican State Attorney General Ken Paxton expressed strong disapproval of the county clerk’s decision and indicated his intent to respond assertively. “New York is undermining the Constitution by concealing offenders from accountability, and this practice has to cease,” remarked Paxton on social media. “I am committed to persist in my endeavors to apply Texas’s pro-life statutes that safeguard our unborn and mothers.”
New York is one of eight states that have enacted protection laws for telemedicine services, drawing scrutiny from abortion opponents even before this dispute between New York and Texas officials emerged.
Democratic New York Governor Kathy Hochul actively employed her state’s protection law previously, rebuffing Republican Governor Jeff Landry’s attempt to extradite Carpenter to Louisiana, where charges were placed against her for prescribing abortion medication to an underage individual. Hochul lauded Bruck’s defiance, stating, “New York appreciates his bravery and practical judgment.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James echoed this sentiment, assuring that her office “will consistently stand by New York’s healthcare professionals and the community they assist.”
Taylor Bruck, who assumed the role of acting county clerk last year following a vacancy and has received endorsement from county Democrats for election, plays an administrative part in judicial submissions. Efforts to reach Dr. Carpenter, the co-medical director and founder of the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine, for commentary proved unsuccessful as she did not attend the legal proceedings in Texas.
Meanwhile, in Texas, a Waller County judge issued a provisional ban halting a group of clinics in Houston from resuming operations. This network was managed by a midwife accused by state officials of conducting unauthorized abortion practices. The court’s decision extends a prior restraining order executed last week to cease the clinics’ operations.
Maria Margarita Rojas, along with two other individuals, faces charges from Paxton’s office for engaging in unauthorized abortion procedures and unauthorized medical practice. These charges mark the inaugural instance of the state enforcing its nearly comprehensive abortion prohibition through criminal allegations.
In addition, the attorney general’s office pursued legal actions to close three clinics situated northwest of Houston, asserting that Rojas managed these facilities where unlawful abortion services were allegedly conducted.