New York judge dismisses Ken Paxton's legal challenge in abortion pills case

Source: Texas Tribune

A New York judge dismissed a legal challenge Friday from Texas seeking to enforce a more than $100,000 civil judgment against a doctor accused of prescribing abortion pills to a Dallas-area woman in an early test of the state’s “shield law” designed to protect providers.

Republican Texas State Attorney General Ken Paxton wanted a New York court to enforce a civil decision from Texas against Dr. Margaret Carpenter, who practices north of New York City in Ulster County, for allegedly prescribing abortion medication via telemedicine.

But acting Ulster County Clerk Taylor Bruck refused to file the judgment, saying he was a government employee who had to comply with New York’s shield law, which protects providers from other states’ reach.

New York is among at least eight states with shield laws. Opponents of the laws argue they violate a constitutional requirement that states respect the laws and legal judgments of other states.

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/31/texas-lawsuit-new-york-abortion-provider-shield-law-ken-paxton/