Louisiana Investigates New York Doctor for Second Abortion Pill Case

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill announced a second investigation into New York doctor Margaret Carpenter for allegedly prescribing and mailing abortion pills to a woman in Louisiana who was 20 weeks pregnant, a case that resulted in the woman giving birth prematurely. Murrill detailed that after the birth, the woman and her boyfriend discarded the baby’s remains in a garbage can but later retrieved them from a hospital, with local law enforcement involved in the investigation. Carpenter was previously indicted in Louisiana for violating state abortion laws by prescribing pills to a Louisiana mother who then gave them to her teenage daughter, and Louisiana has sought her extradition, which New York Governor Kathy Hochul has rejected citing state telehealth protections for abortion providers. The incident was raised during testimony supporting a new Louisiana anti-abortion bill, the "Justice for Victims of Abortion Drug Dealers Act," which would allow family members to sue individuals or entities that facilitate abortions, including out-of-state doctors like Carpenter. The bill aims to further restrict abortion access by using civil liability as a tool, following Louisiana's near-total abortion ban. Carpenter, who co-founded the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine, has not publicly commented on the investigations or allegations.