Evidence-Based. Clearly Delivered.
Evidence-Based. Clearly Delivered.
Since the overturing of Roe v. Wade by the United States Supreme Court in July 2022, the states have responded with a hodgepodge of laws ranging from banning abortions at early gestational ages to significant expansion of reproductive rights to protect women and their healthcare providers. Rights were expanded in states such as Maryland, Connecticut, California, and New York in anticipation that women would travel from states with abortion bans to those where services were far less restricted.
Louisiana is one such state where abortion is banned except to save the pregnant person’s life; prevent serious risk to the pregnant person’s physical health; or, if the fetus is not expected to survive the pregnancy. It is criminal in the state to cause an abortion by means of an abortion-inducing drug. The penalty is imprisonment at hard labor for not less than one year nor more than five years with a fine ranging from $5000 to $50,000. Both penalties can be imposed.
In January 2025, the state of Louisiana indicted Dr. Margaret Carpenter on criminal charges for providing an illegal abortion with mailed medication abortion pills that were taken by a teenager there. In addition, the teenager’s mother was indicted for allegedly ordering the medication abortion pills from Carpenter and telling her daughter to take them. The daughter sought medical attention for an apparent miscarriage and then revealed that she had taken the pills. Carpenter was indicted because her name was on the prescription label.
Days later on February 3, 2025, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul signed a new law to further protect New York doctors who prescribe abortion medication by telehealth to patients who live in states that ban abortion. The law now allows providers who prescribe medications used to perform abortions to request that the dispensing pharmacy print the name of their practice on prescription labels instead of their personal name. This is critical because the Louisiana law specifically references a “person”, not a business in its statute for inducing an abortion by an abortion-inducing medication. The governor further declared that she would reject any extradition request from Louisiana for Dr. Carpenter. Extradition could be legally complicated because Dr. Carpenter was not in the state when the alleged crime was committed, nor did she flee the state.
Dr. Carpenter had also been facing similar charges in Texas for providing abortion-inducing drugs through telehealth. The Texas matter concluded on February 13, 2025 when she failed to appear in court and the judge entered a default judgment against her. A $100,000 fine and about $13,000 in attorneys’ fees and court costs plus interest were imposed against Carpenter. The non-appearance is considered an admission of liability. Dr. Carpenter “is permanently enjoined from prescribing abortion-inducing drugs to Texas residents.” A violation of this injunction could result in a contempt order from a judge, which could carry additional financial penalties or a jail sentence.
Legal Risks and Ethical Dilemmas for Clinicians in the Aftermath of Dobbs
New York State boosts legal protections for doctors who prescribe abortion pills by mail
Guttmacher Institute: United States Abortion
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