New York and Texas are going head-to-head in court over abortion pills and so-called “shield laws.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James said she would step into the legal fight over Texas’ ban on abortion pills on September 8.
This started when Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Dr. Margaret Carpenter, a New York doctor, for breaking Texas law by mailing abortion pills to a woman in the state. Dr. Carpenter also co-founded a group that supports abortion providers in states with so-called “shield laws.”
Shield laws, like those in New York, legally protect doctors and those who aid in abortions for women who live in states with Pro-Life laws, like Texas.
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In February, a Texas district judge ordered Dr. Carpenter to stop sending abortion pills to Texans and to pay over $100,000 in penalties and legal fees. A New York County Clerk, Taylor Bruck, refused to file the judgment, citing the state’s shield laws. Bruck also rejected a second attempt to enforce the Texas ruling.
In response, Attorney General Paxton filed a lawsuit against Bruck, arguing that New York’s refusal to honor the Texas judgment violates the U.S. Constitution’s Full Faith and Credit Clause, which requires states to recognize the legal cases of other states.
At this point, New York Attorney General James announced she would intervene. Her intervention shows the strong opposition to Pro-Life laws that help protect preborn babies and their mothers.
In July, Paxton joined over a dozen other attorneys general from Pro-Life states in urging Congress to take action against abortion shield laws. They also emphasized that such laws “infringe on the Constitution’s full faith and credit clause and the extradition clause.”
James’ motion also comes after Texas passed the Woman and Child Protection Act. This historic Pro-Life legislation empowers private citizens to file civil lawsuits against abortion pill manufacturers and activists who violate Texas law, even if they operate from other states. The bill also allows women who are harmed by abortions to sue pill traffickers.
With the Woman and Child Protection Act, Texas is now the strongest state defending mothers and babies from the abortion pill industry. Now, traffickers know that every deadly drug they send into Texas risks a $100,000 lawsuit.
Abortion pills are the largest threat to preborn children, and Texas’ new law provides significant tools to combat that threat. While anti-Life states like New York will work to stop the safety measures, Pro-Life supporters must remain steadfast in their commitment to defending precious babies!
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