UPDATE, 2/13/25: Louisiana officials, including Governor Jeff Landry, have signed off on the extradition of New York abortionist Margaret Carpenter, who mailed the abortion pill to a Louisiana minor who was being coerced into an abortion. As noted by KLFY.com:
Attorney General Liz Murrill announced Wednesday that she had signed off on Carpenter’s extradition request. Gov. Jeff Landry said he gave final approval Wednesday.
“We will take any and all legal actions to enforce the criminal laws of this state,” Murrill said.
Carpenter faces up to 15 years in prison and $200,000 in fines if convicted under Louisiana’s near-total abortion ban, which criminalizes performing or facilitating abortions, including through medication….
Carpenter’s indictment is believed to be one of the first criminal cases against a doctor accused of sending abortion pills across state lines since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has vowed to “fight like hell” to protect abortionists who send abortion drugs into states where killing preborn children is illegal.
In a post to X, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry stated, “A minor in Louisiana got pregnant. She was excited to have a baby and was planning a gender reveal party. Her mom conspired with a NY doctor to get a chemical abortion pill in the mail and coerced her to take it. She ended up in the hospital. There is only one right answer in this situation: the doctor must face extradition to Louisiana where justice will be served. We owe this to the minor and the innocent life lost.”
A minor in Louisiana got pregnant. She was excited to have a baby and was planning a gender reveal party.
Her mom conspired with a NY doctor to get a chemical abortion pill in the mail and coerced her to take it. She ended up in the hospital.
There is only one right answer in… pic.twitter.com/qFOu3liTpm
— Governor Jeff Landry (@LAGovJeffLandry) February 13, 2025
UPDATE, 2/7/25: Though New York Governor Kathy Hochul has enacted further shield laws protecting abortionists like Margaret Carpenter, specifically in response to the Louisiana case, Eighteenth Judicial District Attorney Tony Clayton said he still intends to investigate the crime and seek an indictment against Carpenter.
‘It would be a groundbreaking case. I think we would be the first state to charge the clinic and the doctor,” he said, adding, “I will seek an arrest warrant and use whatever laws we have in place to effectuate that warrant. More importantly, the issue is that the people of Louisiana and the legislators and governor have decided that abortions are illegal. To put a pill in commerce that ultimately enters into the mouth and stomach of the child, I believe that some folks have to answer to that. That’s the position this D.A.’s office takes whether that doctor is in China, New York or Alabama.”
He also added that abortion being legal in New York does not excuse violating Louisiana’s laws.
“If it’s legal in New York, do it there,” Clayton said. “Don’t do it here … the law is what it is, so I’m following the big picture of the law.”
February 2nd, 2025: A Louisiana grand jury has indicted a New York abortionist who mailed abortion pills to a minor in the pro-life state. The girl needed to seek emergency care due to complications from taking the illegal pills.
According to WAFB, the grand jury is seeking criminal charges against Dr. Margaret Carpenter, her company, Nightingale Medical, and the girl’s mother, who ordered the abortion pills from Carpenter. All three were charged with a felony crime of criminal abortion by means of abortion-inducing drugs. Louisiana prohibits the killing of preborn children by abortion.
Carpenter, one of the founders of online abortion pill business Hey Jane (who also works with Aid Access), is also facing a lawsuit in Texas after she illegally mailed abortion pills to a woman in that state. In that instance, too, the woman experienced complications from the abortion pill, and needed to receive emergency care.
Prosecutors say that the Louisiana girl, whose age has not been released, was excited about her pregnancy before she ended up going through with the abortion.
“She was a minor and … she was excited,” Prosecutor Tony Clayton said. “She had planned a reveal party. She had wanted to have this baby.”
READ: Home from prison, Bevelyn Williams urges pro-life movement to ‘start banding together’
WBRZ reported that the girl’s mother ordered the chemical abortion drugs and “made her” take them. Coercion is known to play a significant role in abortion, with some studies showing that 64% of post-abortive women experienced pressure to abort. Teens and girls who go through with abortions often reveal they felt pressure from parents or other family members to kill their preborn children.
After taking the abortion pill alone at home, the girl experienced serious complications.
“She called 911 and an ambulance rushed her to the hospital and they were able to save her life,” Clayton said. “Whether you are pro-abortion or against it, the bottom line is some child who wanted her baby now doesn’t have that baby and this doctor has a date with Louisiana, Louisiana justice.”
One reason that many states limit taking the abortion pill without a doctor’s direct oversight is that it is known to be four times more dangerous than a first-trimester surgical abortion. Research carried out by Gynuity, a pro-abortion research institute, has shown that six percent (6%) of women who take the abortion pill will require care at an emergency room or urgent care facility — and that is believed to be a low estimate. When a woman receives the abortion pill via mail, she may have to visit emergency centers if the prescriber is not nearby to see her or direct her care in case of emergency.
Though Carpenter’s actions illegally killed a preborn child and also injured a girl, New York Governor Kathy Hochul has already vowed to defend the abortionist.
“Louisiana is attempting to prosecute a New York doctor for providing reproductive health care,” she said on X. “After Roe was overturned, I signed laws to protect patients & doctors from exactly this type of action. … We will remain a safe harbor.”
Attorney General Liz Murrill responded with a statement. “It is illegal to send abortion pills into this state and it’s illegal to coerce another into having an abortion,” Murrill said. “The allegations in this case have nothing to do with reproductive health care, this is about coercion. This is about forcing somebody to have an abortion who didn’t want one.”
