A Louisiana grand jury on Friday indicted a New York doctor for enabling the termination of a minor’s pregnancy by prescribing an abortion bill. The grand jury also indicted the minor’s mother, though the mother’s name has not been released to protect the minor’s identity.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill supported the indictment, stating: “It is illegal to send abortion pills into this State and it’s illegal to coerce another into having an abortion. I have said it before and I will say it again: We will hold individuals accountable for breaking the law.”
Louisiana prosecutors alleged that the mother, who is a resident of Louisiana, went online and ordered a pill called Mifepristone from Dr. Margaret Carpenter to give to her daughter. After the daughter ingested the pill, she was taken to the hospital because of a medical emergency. District Attorney for Louisiana’s 18th Judicial District Tony Clayton explained: “The young child was told by the mother that she had to take the pill or else. The child … felt something happening to her body and began hemorrhaging, and the baby began to come out.”
Mifepristone is a drug that halts pregnancy development and is generally used up to 10 or 11 weeks of gestation. In May 2024, the drug was classified as a Schedule IV controlled substance, rendering its possession a felony punishable by imprisonment for one to five years with the possibility of hard labor except when “obtained directly or pursuant to a valid prescription or order from a [medical] practitioner.” Additionally, knowingly enabling an abortion by providing a pregnant woman with an abortion-inducing drug is punishable by the same penalty. If the abortion-inducing drug causes serious bodily injury, the punishment of imprisonment at hard labor is 15 to 50 years.
Clayton stated: “Shipping an abortion pill from another state is equivalent to me of shipping fentanyl or any other type drug over here that ends up in the mouths and stomachs of our minor kids.”
New York law provides protection from legal liability in other states for performing lawful reproductive health services in New York. New York Governor Kathy Hochul expressed her commitment to enforcing the law on X:
I am proud to say that I will never, under any circumstances, turn this doctor over to the State of Louisiana under any extradition request … This is exactly what we feared. Republicans are fighting for a national abortion ban that will deny reproductive freedom to women, not just in our state, but all across America. We must stay firm and fight this, and I will do everything I can to protect this doctor and allow her to continue the work that she is doing that is so essential.
In December, Texas also sued Dr. Carpenter for allegedly mailing abortion pills to a Texas woman in violation of medical licensing and abortion laws. The state seeks to bar Dr. Carpenter from prescribing abortion pills and practicing medicine in Texas and a fine of at least $100,000.