A Louisiana grand jury has indicted a doctor from New York for prescribing a resident of the Pelican State an abortion pill, which is illegal in the deep-south state.
Indictments were issued against Dr. Margaret Carpenter, Nightingale Medical PC and the parent of a minor who was given the abortion pill by a West Baton Rouge grand jury, according to a New Orleans radio station. They have been charged with causing an abortion "by means of delivering, dispensing, distributing, or providing" a pregnant woman with an "abortion-inducting drug."
Carpenter was previously sued by Ken Paxton, Texas' attorney general, for sending abortion pills to a Texas woman. However, she did not face criminal charges in that case.
Since the Supreme Court overturned the precedent Roe vs. Wade in 2022, this is the first case of a doctor facing criminal charges after being accused of sending abortion pills to a state with a near-total abortion ban.
"The minor child was home alone, felt that she had to take the pill because of what her mother told her," said Assistant District Attorney Tony Clayton, who is prosecuting the case.
"You can't hide behind the borders of New York and ship pills down here to commit abortions in Louisiana," he continued.
The case in Louisiana has been described as "the latest in a series of threats that jeopardizes women's access to reproductive healthcare throughout this country," by the Abortion Coalition of Telemedicine, an organization co-founded by Carpenter.
"Make no mistake, since Roe v Wade was overturned, we've witnessed a disturbing pattern of interference with women's rights," their statement continued. "It's no secret the United States has a history of violence and harassment against abortion providers, and this state-sponsored effort to prosecute a doctor providing safe and effective care should alarm everyone."
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