
Texas judge fines New York doctor for prescribing abortion pills to a woman near Dallas
CNN
A Texas judge on Thursday fined a New York doctor for prescribing abortion pills to a woman near Dallas in one of the first challenges in the US to “shield laws” enacted in Democratic-controlled states where abortion is legal.
A Texas judge on Thursday fined a New York doctor for prescribing abortion pills to a woman near Dallas in one of the first challenges in the US to “shield laws” enacted in Democratic-controlled states where abortion is legal. The ruling was handed down on the same day New York Gov. Kathy Hochul rejected a request from Louisiana to extradite the same doctor, Dr. Maggie Carpenter, who was charged in that state with prescribing abortion pills to a pregnant minor. Unlike Louisiana, Texas did not file criminal charges against Carpenter but accused her in a December lawsuit of violating state law by prescribing abortion medication via telemedicine. Texas has one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the nation. State District Judge Bryan Gantt issued a $100,000 fine against Carpenter and ordered her to pay attorney’s fees. Earlier Hochul, a Democrat, said she will not honor Louisiana’s request to arrest and send the doctor to Louisiana after she was charged with violating the southern state’s strict anti-abortion law. “I will not be signing an extradition order that came from the governor of Louisiana,” Hochul said at a news conference in Manhattan. “Not now, not ever.”

The California governor’s race isn’t waiting for former Vice President Kamala Harris to make up her mind whether she’s going to run. Former Democratic Rep. Katie Porter, who represented Orange County in the US House for three terms, announced Tuesday she’s entering the race to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is term-limited from running again.