A Louisiana grand jury indicted a New York physician Jan. 31 for mailing abortion pills into the state in violation of a pro-life law that classifies the abortion drugs as Schedule IV controlled substances.

According to Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, Dr. Margaret Daley Carpenter mailed the abortion pills at the request of a Louisiana woman, who then coerced her pregnant minor daughter into taking them against her will. The pills caused an abortion and a medical emergency that hospitalized the girl, according to The Advocate. Abortion is illegal in Louisiana except in cases of rape and incest.

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Carpenter runs her own company, Nightingale Medical PC, and is a doctor and co-founder of a New York nonprofit, the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine (ACT), The Hill reported. Her company and ACT, along with the mother, were also indicted Jan. 31. According to The Advocate, warrants for both Carpenter’s arrest and the mother’s have been issued.

While Louisiana’s law allows the state to indict Carpenter, New York has a shield law that protects abortion pill providers in the state from prosecution if they mail them to clients in pro-life states. Carpenter’s indictment is reportedly the first test of New York’s shield law.

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, a Republican, supported the grand jury’s decision with a Jan. 31 statement posted to X.

“It is illegal to send abortion pills into this State and it’s illegal to coerce another into having an abortion,” she stated. “I have said it before and I will say it again: We will hold individuals accountable for breaking the law.”

However, Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul released her own statement on X, expressing her views on the decision.

“Louisiana is attempting to prosecute a New York doctor for providing reproductive health care,” she stated. “After Roe was overturned, I signed laws to protect patients & doctors from exactly this type of action. We will not comply with an extradition request. We will remain a safe harbor.”

SBA Pro-Life America Director of Legal Affairs Katie Daniel celebrated the ruling in a news release, stating that mail-order abortion pills are becoming a “new form of domestic violence against mothers and their babies.”

“Women who never wanted an abortion to begin with are being assaulted and ending up in the emergency room,” Daniel added. “This is precisely why Louisiana enacted its law making abortion drug coercion a crime and strengthening safeguards on abortion drugs by making them controlled substances that require a prescription.”

LifeNews Note: Hannah Hiester writes for CatholicVote, where this column originally appeared.

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