A New York abortion doctor is being criminally charged by a Louisiana grand jury for allegedly prescribing and mailing abortion pills to a minor in the pro-life state.
Dr. Margaret Carpenter, Nightingale Medical, Carpenter’s company, and the child’s mother, who ordered the pills, were indicted Friday with charges of criminal abortion for allegedly prescribing an abortion pill online in Louisiana, which has some of the strongest pro-life laws in the country.
“She was a minor and … she was excited,” Prosecutor Tony Clayton told WBRZ-TV. “She had planned a reveal party. She had wanted to have this baby.”
The girl was reportedly coerced to take the drug and later “suffered complications while alone,” Clayton said, adding, “She called 911 and an ambulance rushed her to the hospital and they were able to save her life.”
Grand jurors at the District Court for the Parish of West Baton Rouge indicted the abortion doctor, her medical clinic, and the girl’s mother.
All three were charged with criminal abortion using abortion-inducing drugs – a felony.
Louisiana prohibits the killing of preborn children by abortion, and recent law was passed to reclassify abortion pills as controlled substances. Under the measure, if someone knowingly possesses mifepristone or misoprostol without a valid prescription, they could be fined up to $5,000 and sent to jail for one to five years. The law, however, carves out protections for pregnant women who obtain the drug without a prescription to take on their own.
“To ship a pill from another state is equivalent to me to shipping fentanyl or any other type of drug that ends up in the mouths and stomachs of our minor kids,” Clayton said.
The indictment is believed to be the first instance of criminal charges against a doctor for mailing abortion pills across state lines since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
“It is illegal to send abortion pills into this state and it’s illegal to coerce another into having an abortion,” Attorney General Liz Murrill said while also noting that the mother is not being charged with coercion.
Carpenter was also sued by the Texas attorney general in December for prescribing abortion-inducing drugs to a Texas resident via telemedicine, but the case did not involve criminal charges.
Friday’s indictment could be the first test of New York’s shield laws, which are intended to protect local physicians who use telemedicine to provide abortion pills to patients in states where abortion is banned.
In a video statement, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul called the charges “outrageous” and vowed to defend the abortionist.
“I am proud to say that I would never, under any circumstances, turn this doctor over to the state of Louisiana under any extradition request,” she said.
Carpenter is the founder of the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine, an organization that advocates abortion telemedicine across the country. The group released a statement Friday after Carpenter’s indictment.
“The case out of Louisiana against a licensed New York doctor is the latest in a series of threats that jeopardizes women’s access to reproductive healthcare throughout this country,” they wrote.
Pro-life groups commended Louisiana authorities for their action but say they are “grieved” it has gotten this far.
“It appears evident that the courageous minor had every intent of raising her baby as she had a reveal party planned,” Louisiana Right to Life spokesman Sarah Zagorski said. “Now, instead of celebrating birthdays with her child, she’s left with the grief from the death of her baby…”
SBA Pro-Life America Director of Legal Affairs Katie Daniel said, “This case exposes how mail-order abortion drugs are fueling an epidemic of coercion, a new form of domestic violence against mothers and their babies. Women who never wanted an abortion to begin with are being assaulted and ending up in the emergency room.”
“This cannot remotely be considered health care. We thank attorneys general like Liz Murrill and Ken Paxton for standing with women and children. Every pro-life state should do likewise,” she added.
Under Louisiana’s law, a physician convicted of performing an illegal abortion, including one with pills, could face up to 15 years in prison, $200,000 in fines, and the loss of their medical license.
“Whether you are pro-abortion or against it, the bottom line is some child who wanted her baby now doesn’t have that baby and this doctor has a date with Louisiana, Louisiana justice,” Clayton said.
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