Ulster County doctor indicted on felony abortion charges in Louisiana
Ulster County Physician, Dr. Margaret Carpenter, is facing felony charges after being indicted by a Louisiana grand jury earlier this week.
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Dr. Margaret Carpenter and her New Paltz-based company, Nightingale Medica Pc, were indicted by a Louisiana grand jury for allegedly sending an abortion medication to the mother of a pregnant teen, who took the pill to terminate her pregnancy.
The girl's mother is also charged and has turned herself in to Louisiana authorities.
Prosecutors in the state want Carpenter to face a jury trial.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, however, has vowed to intervene.
"I signed into law very tough shield laws where I am proud to say I will never, underany circumstances, turn this doctor over to the state of Louisiana under any extradition request," Hochul said.
The case comes three years after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the measure that protected a woman's right to have an abortion prior to the point of fetal viability.
Louisiana currently has a near-total abortion ban with no exceptions, including for rape or incest.
Doctors convicted of performing an illegal abortion, including with pills, face up to 15 years in prison, $200,000 in fines, and the loss of their medical license.
The Texas attorney general also sued Carpenter in December for sending pills to that state.
No criminal charges, however, were involved in that case.
