New York Shields Docs Who Prescribe Abortion Drugs

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday signed a invoice to defend the identities of medical doctors who prescribe abortion medicines, days after a doctor within the state was charged with prescribing abortion capsules to a pregnant minor in Louisiana.

The brand new legislation, which took impact instantly, permits medical doctors to request for his or her names to be left off abortion capsule bottles and as an alternative record the identify of their well being care practices on remedy labels.

The transfer got here after a grand jury in West Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana indicted New York Dr. Margaret Carpenter and her firm on Friday for allegedly prescribing abortion capsules on-line to a pregnant minor.

The case seems to be the primary occasion of felony prices towards a health care provider accused of sending abortion capsules to a different state, a minimum of because the U.S. Supreme Courtroom overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.

Hochul, a Democrat, stated she wouldn’t signal an extradition request to ship Carpenter to Louisiana and stated authorities in Louisiana found the identify of the physician as a result of it was on the remedy label.

“After right this moment, that can now not occur,” the governor stated on the invoice signing.

Prosecutors in Louisiana stated the lady skilled a medical emergency after taking the remedy and needed to be transported to the hospital. It isn’t clear how far alongside she was in her being pregnant. The lady’s mom, who was additionally charged, turned herself in to police on Friday.

District Legal professional Tony Clayton, the prosecutor within the Louisiana case, stated the arrest warrant for Carpenter is “nationwide” and that she may face arrest in states with anti-abortion legal guidelines.

Louisiana has a near-total abortion ban. Physicians convicted of performing abortions, together with one with capsules, resist 15 years in jail, $200,000 in fines and the lack of their medical license.

Hochul stated she would push for one more piece of laws this 12 months that can require pharmacists to stick to medical doctors’ requests that their identify is left off a prescription label.

Carpenter was beforehand sued by the legal professional basic of Texas for allegations of sending abortion capsules to Texas, although that case didn’t contain felony prices.

Drugs have turn into the most typical methodology of abortion within the U.S. and are on the heart of varied political and authorized battles within the state-by-state patchwork of guidelines governing abortion because the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

AP author Sara Cline contributed from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

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