New York State Doctor Wanted In Louisiana On Abortion Charges

Louisiana issued a warrant for a New York State doctor who provided abortion services. As blue states and red states battle over abortion rights, things are heating up in New York. New York is standing up to Louisiana, which is trying to push its laws on a New York doctor.

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According to Abortion Finder, Louisiana bans abortions totally,

"Abortion is completely banned in Louisiana because of a state law that went into effect June 24, 2022. You can travel out of state to get an abortion."

On February 1, 2025, an arrest warrant was issued in Louisiana for Dr. Margaret Carpenter, who is also the co-founder of the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine. Her practice, Nightingale Medical, was indicted in the state. The felony charges against her include prescribing and sending abortion pills to a pregnant woman in Louisiana. She is also being sued by the State of Texas in a civil suit. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing Dr. Carpenter to permanently stop her from sending abortion pills to Texas residents. Dr. Carpenter is facing up to 15 years in a Louisiana State prison, $200,000 in fines, and having her medical license permanently revoked, if she is found guilty.

Governor Kathy Hochul, New York's first woman Governor, signed New York’s shield law.

"The Shield Law broadly prohibits law enforcement and other state officials from cooperating with investigations into reproductive or gender-affirming health care (“protected health care”) so long as the care was lawfully provided in New York. With respect to reproductive health care specifically, these protections apply even if the care was provided via telehealth to a patient located out-of-state, so long as the provider was physically present in New York."

The NY law says that law enforcement in the state cannot arrest Dr. Carpenter with or without a warrant. They also cannot extradite her to Louisiana. State and local law enforcement can provide or share any information with their Louisiana counterparts. Louisiana law enforcement does not have any jurisdiction in New York and would need to work with NY law enforcement to arrest Dr. Carpenter.

Governor Hochul also recently signed bill S.36A/A.2145A, into law, which adds another layer of protection for doctors. It allows doctors to ask the pharmacy to put their practice's name, rather than their personal names, on labels for abortion medications - mifepristone, misoprostol, and generic alternatives.

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These types of disputes are likely to become more frequent and hostile as red and blue states stand their ground over abortions and other state laws that differ greatly. According to Find Law,

"Individual states do not have jurisdiction over one another. State courts cannot hear cases involving another state. So, the Constitution tasks the Supreme Court with handling disputes between state governments."

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