New York Gov. Kathy Hochul late on Feb. 13 revealed that her office has received an order of extradition designed to force New York to turn over to Louisiana authorities a New York doctor who they accuse of participating in a murder by providing an abortion medication sent to a patient in Louisiana. The doctor is from New Platz and previously had been identified as Mary Carpenter.
“They’re saying that she is to be charged with the crime of a criminal abortion by means of abortion-inducing drugs. This is a very serious offense,” Hochul said. “As I have said before, in the state of New York, at my direction, we have put in place strict shield laws that anticipated this very situation: That in the aftermath of the overturning of Roe v. Wade — the established law for 49 years that gave women the rights that my mother’s generation had to fight for, that my generation took for granted, that are no longer there for my daughter’s generation — after 49 years of having the established law of the nation overturned by this Supreme Court, we knew that in the state of New York that we had providers who could be vulnerable.”
Hochul explained that New York contemplated a telemedicine prescription for this legally abortion-inducing drug, which has been on the market and approved by the FDA for more than 20 years.
“Louisiana has changed their laws, but that has no bearing on the laws here in the state of New York. Doctors take an oath to protect their patients,” Hochul said. “I took an oath of office to protect all New Yorkers, and I will uphold not only our constitution, but also the laws of our land. And I will not be signing an extradition order that came from the Governor of Louisiana: Not now, not ever. I want to be very clear on that.”
Hochul said that a law enforcement notice has been issued throughout New York that certain out-of-state warrants are not enforceable in the state of New York.
“We have taken all the steps we can to protect this doctor to continue allowing her to continue practicing what we believe is reproductive health, which I believe is an essential right,” Hochul said.
