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A post-Roe landmark was incoming as Texas took legal aim at a blue state doctor for violating Lone Star pro-life laws.

Since June 2022 when the ruling in Dobbs v.  Jackson Women’s Health Organization brought with it the overturning of Roe v. Wade, numerous legal challenges have failed to upend Texas’ commitment to the sanctity of life. Thursday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) issued a counteroffensive against a New York doctor after a telehealth abortifacient prescription sent a patient to the hospital.

According to the suit filed in District Court in Collin County, north of Dallas, “Dr. Margaret Daley Carpenter of New York violates Texas law by providing abortion-inducing drugs to Texans through telehealth. Carpenter is not a licensed Texas physician, nor is she authorized to practice telemedicine in the State of Texas. The Court should enjoin Carpenter from continuing to operate outside the bounds of the law and impose civil penalties for her violation of Texas law.”

Seeking civil penalties of no less than $100,000 per violation amounting to monetary relief of up to $250,000, in addition to a temporary and permanent injunction to keep Carpenter from further violations of Texas law, as well as the legal costs of the case, Paxton issued a statement summarizing the lawsuit.

“In this case, an out-of-state doctor violated the law and caused serious harm to this patient,” detailed the attorney general. “This doctor prescribed abortion-inducing drugs–unauthorized, over telemedicine–causing her patient to end up in the hospital with serious 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.”

As pro-life legislatures and executives had endeavored to pass protections for the unborn, those who sought on-demand access to terminating the most innocent had endeavored to shield practitioners and patients alike.

Addressing such laws in New York, professor Mary Ruth Ziegler of the University of California, Davis, School of Law had posited to the Associated Press, “Will doctors be more afraid to mail pills into Texas, even if they might be protected by shield laws because they don’t know if they’re protected by shield laws?”

The Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine, for which Carpenter served as co-medical director, had their own statement on the suit asserting, “Ken Paxton is prioritizing his anti-abortion agenda over the health and well-being of women by attempting to shut down telemedicine abortion nationwide.”

They continued, “By threatening access to safe and effective reproductive health care, he is putting women directly in harm’s way.”

Likewise, New York Attorney General Letitia James, who like many Democratic politicians had prioritized “reproductive rights,” said in a statement, “Abortion is, and will continue to be, legal and protected in New York. As other states move to attack those who provide or obtain abortion care, New York is proud to be a safe haven for abortion access. We will always protect our providers from unjust attempts to punish them for doing their job and we will never cower in the face of intimidation or threats.”

With the Empire State allowing for a countersuit against the plaintiff to attempt to recover damages should Paxton continue his record of success, James’ statement went on to note, “I will continue to defend reproductive freedom and justice for New Yorkers, including from out-of-state anti-choice attacks.”

Kevin Haggerty
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