Texas sues New York doctor for prescribing abortion pills by telemedicine

Texas has sued a New York doctor for prescribing abortion pills to a Texas woman via telemedicine.

The lawsuit was filed in Collin County, Texas, by the state's Attorney General Ken Paxton on Thursday and announced Friday. It appears to be the first challenge anywhere in the U.S. to a shield law that Democratic-controlled states have been adopting to protect exactly this kind of prescription.

Prescriptions like these, made online and over the phone, are a key reason that the number of abortions has increased across the U.S. even since state bans started taking effect after Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022.

Lawsuits challenging the bans had been expected to start eventually.

The lawsuit asserts that New York Dr. Margaret Daley Carpenter violated Texas law by providing the drugs to a Texas patient and seeks up to $250,000. No criminal charges are involved.

Texas bars abortion at all stages of pregnancy.

Paxton said that the woman who received the pills ended up in a hospital with complications.

"In Texas, we treasure the health and lives of mothers and babies, and this is why out-of-state doctors may not illegally and dangerously prescribe abortion-inducing drugs to Texas residents,” Paxton said in a statement.

A phone message left for Carpenter was not immediately returned.