On January 31st, a Louisiana grand jury indicted a doctor who allegedly broke the law in the state by prescribing an abortion pill online to a client who lives in the area. According to court records, the suspect, Dr. Margaret Carpenter, her company, Nightingale Medical, PC, and a third unnamed person, were all charged with criminal abortion by means of abortion-inducing drugs as a result of the online transaction.
In Louisiana, criminal abortion is a felony offense.
In a first-of-its-kind case, Louisiana is pursuing criminal charges for sending the pills online months after classifying mifepristone and misoprostol as “controlled dangerous substances.” While these drugs are both still available in Louisiana to medical personnel, the new classification means that personnel have to go through specific steps to access those drugs. If anyone possesses those two substances without a prescription, then they could be fined up to $5,000 and face jail time for up to five years.
Louisiana is strictly against abortion. Under the law, physicians who perform an illegal abortion, including one that involves pills, could face up to 15 years in prison and $200,000 worth of fines. These physicians will also face the additional penalty of losing their medical license in the state.
Louisiana isn’t the only state that’s caught on to Dr. Margaret Carpenter’s willingness to violate state laws in pursuit of providing abortion care. Reports show that she is also facing a lawsuit from the Texas attorney general. In December, the attorney general filed the suit under similar claims that the doctor was sending abortion pills to the state. This lawsuit is civil, so it doesn’t involve criminal charges.
Dr. Carpenter has been outspoken and adamant that such restrictions interfere with women’s rights. In a statement made by the Abortion Coalition of Telemedicine, a group Carpenter helped to create, the “state-sponsored effort to prosecute a doctor providing safe and effective care should alarm everyone.”
Reproductive Rights and Restrictions in New York
This case will be interesting to see play out, as the state of New York has specific shield laws. These shield laws protect prescribers who use telehealth to provide medical care, including state-legalized abortion pills, to patients where abortion is banned. Since Dr. Carpenter is a provider in New York state who provided telehealth services to a patient in another state, these shield laws should come into play.
Have you recently been accused of an abortion-related crime? While abortion is legal in New York, it’s possible to be accused of committing a crime if you were in another state or if you provided abortion-related care to an out-of-state resident.
The good news is that having the right legal advocate by your side can help you defend yourself against any criminal allegations. If you need to talk to an attorney about your pending legal situation, then we can help. Schedule a case review with our team now to learn more about your legal options moving forward.
