New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has rejected a request from Louisiana to extradite Dr. Maggie Carpenter, who was charged with prescribing abortion pills to a pregnant minor in the state last month.

“I will not be signing an extradition order that came from the governor of Louisiana,” Hochul, a Democrat, said at a news conference in Manhattan on Thursday. “Not now, not ever.”

Newsweek has contacted Hochul and Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry for further comment via email. Carpenter has been contacted for comment via an email to the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine, which she co-founded.

Why It Matters

The case in Louisiana appears to be the first instance of criminal charges against a doctor accused of prescribing abortion pills to another state since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, clearing the way for states to ban abortion.

The case will test New York’s so-called shield law, which gives legal protections to doctors who prescribe abortion medication to patients in conservative states where abortions are banned or restricted.

Louisiana has had a near-total abortion ban since the fall of Roe, without exceptions for rape or incest. Physicians convicted of performing an illegal abortion, including with pills, face up to 15 years in prison, $200,000 in fines and the loss of their medical license.

Pills are the most common method of abortion in the U.S. and are the center of the political and legal fight over abortion access, with several states seeking to restrict their use.

What To Know

An arrest warrant was issued for Carpenter after grand jurors in West Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, indicted her on charges that she violated the state’s near-total abortion ban.

Carpenter and her company Nightingale Medical, PC, were charged with criminal abortion by means of abortion-inducing drugs, a felony. The girl’s mother was also charged and turned herself into police, the Associated Press reported.

Authorities in Louisiana said the pregnant minor had wanted to keep the baby, but her mother “conspired” with the doctor to order abortion pills to give to her daughter. They said the minor experienced a medical emergency and ended up in the hospital.

On Thursday, Hochul also said she sent out a notice to law enforcement in New York that directed them to not cooperate with out-of-state warrants for such charges.

“We have taken all the steps we can to protect this doctor, to continue allowing her to continue practicing what we believe is reproductive health, which I believe is an essential right,” Hochul said.

Carpenter was also accused in a December lawsuit of violating Texas law by prescribing abortion medication via telemedicine to a woman near Dallas.

A Texas judge on Thursday ordered Carpenter to pay more than $100,000 in penalties for prescribing the pills in a ruling that could also test New York’s shield law.

What People Are Saying

New York Governor Kathy Hochul said after the Supreme Court striking down Roe v. Wade, Louisiana “changed their laws, but that has no bearing on the laws here in the state of New York. Doctors take an oath to protect their patients. I took an oath of office to protect all New Yorkers, and I will uphold not only our Constitution, but the laws of our land.”

The Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine said in a statement on Thursday that the extradition order is “the latest escalation in Louisiana’s ongoing state-sponsored effort to prosecute safe and effective healthcare.”

The group said: “As Governor Kathy Hochul firmly stated last week, and reiterated strongly today, she has the backs of dedicated physicians providing essential healthcare by telemedicine. Ongoing attempts by anti-abortion state officials to restrict access to abortion care are inconsistent with New York state law.”

Republican Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said in a video statement on Thursday: “There is only one right answer in this situation, and it is that that doctor must face extradition to Louisiana where she can stand trial and justice will be served. We owe that to the minor and to the innocent loss of life.”

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill wrote on X: “This child was NOT this doctor’s patient. She never met her, saw her, or knew anything about her. The child is a victim. @GovKathyHochul is protecting a drug dealer who victimized a child.”

What Happens Next

Hochul has said she will not sign the extradition order for Carpenter to face charges in Louisiana, but Murrill has suggested that Carpenter could be extradited should she travel out of New York.

Carpenter “needs to be careful with her travel plans. There is an active warrant for her arrest because she clearly broke Louisiana law, & a grand jury indicted her in just minutes,” Murrill wrote on Facebook last week.