Arrest Warrant Issued For New York Doctor Indicted In Louisiana For Prescribing Abortion Pill

An arrest warrant has been issued for a New York doctor indicted by a Louisiana grand jury for allegedly prescribing an abortion pill online to a pregnant minor.

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — An arrest warrant has been issued for a New York doctor indicted on Friday by a Louisiana grand jury for allegedly prescribing abortion pills online to a pregnant minor in the Deep South state, which has one of the strictest near-total abortion bans in the country.

Grand jurors at the District Court for the Parish of West Baton Rouge unanimously issued an indictment against Dr. Margaret Carpenter; her company, Nightingale Medical, PC; and the minor’s mother. All three were charged with criminal abortion by means of abortion-inducing drugs, a felony.

In addition to Carter, an arrest warrant was issued for the mother, who has not been publicly identified to protect the identity of the minor. District Attorney Tony Clayton told The Associated Press that the mother turned herself in to police on Friday.

The case appears to be the first instance of criminal charges against a doctor accused of sending abortion pills to another state, at least since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 and opened the door for states to have strict anti-abortion laws.

“We expect Dr. Carpenter to come to Louisiana and answer to these charges, and if 12 people (a jury) think she’s innocent then, let it go,” Clayton said.