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New York Gov. Kathy Hochul rejected Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry’s request to extradite a NY doctor who was indicted while working in the state for prescribing abortion pills to a minor via a remote healthcare provider, the governor announced in a Friday release.

Dr. Margaret Daley Carpenter and her company Nightingale Medical were indicted by a grand jury with criminal abortion using abortion-inducing drugs, The Associated Press reported. The patient’s mother was charged with the same crime, as prosecutors allege she ordered the pills on behalf of her daughter.

The case appears to be the first of its kind against an abortion provider following the overturn of Roe v. Wade, MSNBC reported.

“Louisiana has changed their laws, but that has no bearing on the laws here in the State of New York,” Hocul said in the release. “I will not be signing an extradition order that came from the Governor of Louisiana: Not now, not ever.”

Louisiana has one of the nation’s strictest abortion bans. Abortion is banned regardless of circumstance. The state has no exceptions for cases of rape or incest.

Louisiana state legislators were the first in the United States to enact a law reclassifying misoprostol and mifepristone — abortion-inducing medications — as “controlled dangerous substances.” The law now defines the pills as “Schedule IV drugs,” placing them in the same category as potentially addictive substances such as Xanax and Tramadol.

New York state, however, has shield laws in place designed to protect its abortion providers when prescribing drugs to patients in states with restrictions, according to the AP. The laws also provide protections for doctors who give care to any patient, regardless of location, against out-of-state investigations and prosecutions.

Under Louisiana’s ban, doctors convicted of providing abortions, including with medication, may be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison and fined up to $200,000.

In November, New Yorkers voted to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution when they passed Proposal Number One. The proposal amended Article 1, Section 11 of the state constitution to expand the scope of its anti-discrimination laws. The proposal adds protections for reproductive healthcare and autonomy, providing residents with safety from being criminalized or punished for pregnancy outcomes including miscarriages and stillbirths.

On Feb. 3, Hochul signed legislation allowing healthcare workers providing abortions to use their practice’s name instead of their own. The law is intended to protect doctors with New York licenses when prescribing abortion medications to out-of-state residents.

“Doctors take an oath to protect their patients,” Hochul said in Friday’s release. “I took an oath of office to protect all New Yorkers, and I will uphold not only our constitution, but also the laws of our land.”

The governor also sent out a notice to New York law enforcement Friday instructing them to not cooperate with out-of-state warrants for such charges, the AP reported. Last week, President Donald Trump sued Hochul and other New York officials for undermining federal immigration policy. His administration has not yet commented on Hochul’s rejection and other recent legislative decisions.

Published on February 16, 2025 at 9:51 pm

Contact Delia: dsrangel@syr.edu