Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed legal action against a county clerk in New York, accusing her of refusing to enforce a court judgment against a doctor who allegedly violated Texas’s abortion ban by prescribing and mailing abortion pills to a Texas woman.
Paxton’s office is seeking a writ of mandamus to compel Ulster County Clerk Taylor Bruck to file the judgment and court summons against Dr. Margaret Carpenter, a New York-based physician. The request stems from a Texas court ruling that ordered Carpenter to pay over $100,000 in penalties for allegedly providing abortion medication to a 20-year-old woman in Texas.
Carpenter and her legal counsel did not appear in court or respond to the lawsuit when it was filed in December. In March, Paxton’s office attempted to enforce the civil judgment through New York’s legal system, requesting Bruck authorize collection of the penalties. Bruck denied the request, citing New York’s abortion shield law as grounds for refusal.
Earlier this month, Paxton’s office renewed its demand. Bruck again declined.
“The rejection stands,” she said in a statement. “Resubmitting the same materials does not alter the outcome.”
New York’s shield law is designed to protect abortion providers from legal actions initiated by states with abortion bans. Governor Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James have both vowed to defend New York medical professionals who offer abortion services to out-of-state patients.
“Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has repeatedly tried to file a judgment against a New York doctor, and our response has been clear: hell no,” Hochul said on Monday.
According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, New York is one of 18 states — along with Washington, D.C. — that have passed laws to shield abortion providers from civil or criminal liability for offering care to patients in states where abortion is heavily restricted or banned.
