Upstate clerk blocks Texas filing against NYS doc who prescribed abortion meds

An upstate county clerk blocked Texas from filing legal action Thursday against a New York physician who provided abortion pills to a Texas woman — in what is likely the first high-stakes test of New York’s abortion shield law.

Texas officials are attempting to enforce a court judgment issued there against Dr. Margaret Daley Carpenter of New Paltz for prescribing abortion-inducing pills to a Texas resident. The judgment sought to fine the doctor more than $100,000 and prevent her from issuing any more prescriptions. This is the second anti-abortion Southern state that has sought legal action against Carpenter.

But when the Texas motion was filed electronically with Ulster County, acting County Clerk Taylor Bruck had to tap either the “accept” or “reject” icon, as is the case with any such filing, and he chose “reject,” according to a county official.

A notation said the motion was “rejected pursuant to NYS Executive Law 837-X,” a reference to the New York State abortion shield law, enacted in 2023, which protects New York-based doctors who serve patients in restrictive states through telehealth appointments.

Effectively, this means the judgment has not been filed and won’t be honored in Ulster.

In a statement issued later, Bruck said: “In accordance with the New York State Shield Law, I have refused this filing and will refuse any similar filings that may come to our office. Since this decision is likely to result in further litigation, I must refrain from discussing specific details about the situation.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul backed Bruck, lumping in Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton with “anti-woman, anti-abortion zealots.”

“Today, the County Clerk in Ulster County bravely stood up with a simple message: hell no,” Hochul said in a statement. She said “New York is grateful for his courage and common sense.”

Paxton, in a statement posted online, said: “New York is shredding the Constitution to hide lawbreakers from justice, and it must end. I will not stop my efforts to enforce Texas’s pro-life laws that protect our unborn children and mothers.”

New York is among eight states with telemedicine shield laws, according to The Associated Press.

Bruck told the Albany Times Union that he expects Texas to sue his office to try to overturn New York’s law — potentially setting up an eventual battle over abortion rights and telemedicine at the U.S. Supreme Court.

“They know the shield law is untested, and they’re testing it,” Bruck said.

Earlier this year, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed an extradition warrant for the arrest of Carpenter — a warrant that Hochul refused to sign.

Hochul said at the time a notice was sent out to all law enforcement in the state telling them not to cooperate or enforce the extradition. And in January, New York Attorney General Letitia James issued a memo to officials around the state outlining how to comply with the shield law and prohibiting some actions, such as information sharing.

By Yancey Roy

yancey.roy@newsday.com@yanceyroy