Red stick
AP
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An arrest warrant was issued for a New York doctor charged on Friday by a large Louisiana jury for having pretended to prescribe online abortion pills to a pregnant minor in the deep state of the south, who One of the most strict almost total abortion in the country.
The great jurors of the District Court of the West Baton Rouge parish unanimously published an indictment against Dr. Margaret Carpenter; his company, Nightingale Medical, PC; and the mother of the minor. All three were accused of criminal abortion by means of drugs causing abortion, a crime.
In addition to Carpenter, an arrest warrant was issued for the mother, who was not publicly identified to protect the identity of the minor. District prosecutor Tony Clayton told the Associated Press that the mother went to the police on Friday.
The case seems to be the first body of criminal accusations against a doctor accused of having sent abortion pills to another state, at least since the United States Supreme Court canceled ROE C. Wade in 2022 and opened the door to states to have strict anti-abortion laws.
“We expect Dr. Carpenter to come to Louisiana and answer these accusations, and if 12 people (a jury) think she is innocent then, let her go,” said Clayton.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul said in a video published on social networks: “I will in no case do this doctor to the state of Louisiana in extradition requests”, reporting a potential legal battle between states.
Last year, the woman from Port Allen, in Louisiana, asked for online abortion drugs to Carpenter for her daughter, whose age was not specified. Clayton said that the request was made by a questionnaire only and no consultation with the girl.
A “cocktail of pills” was sent by post to the woman who ordered her daughter to take the pill, said Clayton.
After taking the medication, the girl experienced a medical emergency when she was alone, called 911 and was transported to the hospital where she was treated. During the response to the emergency, a police officer learned the pills and, under a more in -depth investigation, a New York State doctor had provided drugs and put his conclusions to the Clayton office.
We don’t know how far the girl was in her pregnancy.
“The mother (adult) has since been arrested, but the other person we believe is just as guilty here is the person who sat in an office, wrapped a box of pills, put a stamp on the box And sent her to the state of Louisiana’s state for a child to take, ”said Clayton.
Carpenter was continued in December by the Texas Attorney General under similar allegations to send pills to this state. This case did not involve criminal charges.
Carpenter did not immediately send a message from the AP.
The indictment occurs only a few months after Louisiana has become the first state with a reclassifying law both mifepristone and misoprostol as “controlled dangerous substances”. Medicines are still authorized, but medical staff must take additional measures to access it.
Under the legislation, if someone knowingly has one or the other of the valid prescription drugs, he could be sentenced to a fine up to $ 5,000 and sent to prison for one to five years. The law discovers the protections of pregnant women who obtain the drug without a prescription to take themselves.
“I have already said it and I will repeat it: we will hold the individuals responsible for violation of the law,” the prosecutor general of Louisiana, Liz Murrill, republican, said on Friday.
Opponents of abortion and reproductive rights groups flooding social media examining the indictment.
“We cannot continue to allow forced birth extremists to interfere with our ability to access the necessary health care,” said Chasity Wilson, executive director of Louisiana Abortion Fund, in a statement. “The extremists hope that this case will cause a frightening effect, linking the hands of doctors more oath to take care of their patients.”
Since the fall of Roe c. Wade, Louisiana had an almost total ban on abortion, without any exceptions for rape or incest. Under the law, doctors found guilty of having an illegal abortion, one with pills, face up to 15 years in prison, $ 200,000 in fines and the loss of their medical license.
“Make no mistake, since Roe V Wade was canceled, we attended a disturbing interference scheme with women’s rights,” said the coalition of telemedicine abortion, where Carpenter is one Founders, in a press release. “It is not a secret for anyone that the United States has history of violence and harassment against abortion suppliers, and this effort sponsored by the State to continue a doctor offering safe and effective care should be alarm everything the world. ”
Friday’s indictment could be the first direct test of New York shield laws, which are intended to protect prescribers who use telehealth to provide abortion pills to patients in states where abortion is prohibited. The New York Attorney General, Letitia James said: “We will not allow bad players to undermine the ability of our providers to provide intensive care.”
“This loose attempt from Louisiana to arm the law against providers outside the state is unfair and not American,” added James.
The pills have become the most common means of abortion in the United States, representing almost two thirds of them by 2023. They are also at the center of political and judicial action on abortion. In January, a judge let three states continue to challenge the federal government’s approvals on how one of the drugs usually involved may be prescribed.
