Texas Sues New York Doctor on Telemedicine Abortion Pills

Paxton says woman went to hospital with complications after receiving prescription
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Dec 13, 2024 4:30 PM CST
Texas Abortion Pill Suit Fights Telemedicine Shield Law
Three members of the Women's March group protest in support of access to abortion medication outside the federal courthouse in Amarillo, Texas, in March 2023.   (AP Photo/David Erickson, File)

Texas has sued a New York doctor for prescribing abortion pills to a Texas woman via telemedicine. The lawsuit was filed in Collin County, Texas, by state Attorney General Ken Paxton on Thursday and announced Friday. It appears to be the first challenge anywhere in the US to a shield law that Democratic-controlled states have been adopting to protect exactly this kind of prescription, the AP reports. Prescriptions like these, made online and over the phone, are a key reason that the number of abortions has increased across the nation even since state bans started taking effect after Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022.

The lawsuit asserts that Dr. Margaret Daley Carpenter of New York violated Texas law by providing the drugs to a Texas patient and seeks up to $250,000. No criminal charges are involved. Texas bars abortion at all stages of pregnancy. Paxton said the woman who received the pills ended up in a hospital with complications. "In Texas, we treasure the health and lives of mothers and babies, and this is why out-of-state doctors may not illegally and dangerously prescribe abortion-inducing drugs to Texas residents," Paxton said in a statement.

(More abortion pills stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X