A New York county court blocked the state of Texas from taking legal action against a doctor who allegedly prescribed and sent abortion pills to a woman in Texas.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton had sued the New York doctor in December, accusing her of violating his state’s ban by providing abortion pills to a resident.
When the doctor and her attorneys failed to appear, Paxton sought a civil penalty exceeding $100,000 and filed the judgement in New York state.
“I have refused this filing and will refuse any similar filings that may come to our office,” said acting Ulster County Clerk Taylor Bruck.
New York’s shield law protects abortion providers in the state from certain legal actions if they provide treatment or medication to women in states with abortion restrictions or bans.
On Thursday, Bruck cited this law in issuing his decision.
When the US Supreme Court ended the constitutional right to abortion in 2022, it allowed each state to pass its own laws and regulations.
Texas prohibits nearly all abortions with limited exceptions, whereas New York allows the procedure up until 24 weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions if a patient’s health or pregnancy is at risk.
The patchwork of access led some women in states with abortion bans or restrictions to turn to telemedicine to obtain medication used to end pregnancies from doctors in states where the pills are permitted.
The most commonly used form is a two-pill regimen of mifepristone and misoprostol. They can be used to end a pregnancy up to 12 weeks.
The doctor in this case, Margaret Daley Carpenter of New Paltz, New York, works with telemedicine organisations that provide abortion medications.
She is co-founder of the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine. The state of Louisiana brought criminal charges against Ms Carpenter for allegedly providing abortion pills to a resident there despite its restrictions.
Paxton sued Dr Carpenter for allegedly providing a 20-year-old woman in Texas the two medications that “resulted in a medication abortion.”
The suit alleged that Dr Carpenter violated the state law by providing abortion pills to a Texas resident, and without having a license to practice medicine in the state.
It sought to prevent Dr Carpenter from providing abortion medication to Texas residents, and to impose civil penalties of no less than $100,000 for each alleged violation of Texas’ abortion law.
“In this case, an out-of-state doctor violated the law and caused serious harm to this patient. This doctor prescribed abortion-inducing drugs – unauthorized, over telemedicine – causing her patient to end up in the hospital with serious complications,” Paxton said in a statement announcing his lawsuit.
Paxton’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the New York clerk’s decision.
“Since this decision is likely to result in further litigation, I must refrain from discussing specific details about the situation,” Mr Bruck said.
The case signalled a new frontier in legal battles over abortion in the US, as states like Texas seek to limit their residents’ ability to get abortion pills from out-of-state providers.
States often cooperate on law enforcement matters, including criminal investigations and extraditions.
But after the US Supreme Court struck down Roe v Wade, eight Democratic-led states, including New York passed shield laws to protect abortion providers using telehealth to see patients in states with abortion restrictions or bans.
A total of 22 states and the District of Columbia have shield laws in place for their medical providers.
“I commend the Ulster County Clerk for doing what is right,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement.
“New York’s shield law was created to protect patients and providers from out-of-state anti-choice attacks, and we will not allow anyone to undermine health care providers’ ability to deliver necessary care to their patients.”