Hochul Denies Louisiana Extradition Order For Hudson Valley Doctor

NEW YORK — Governor Kathy Hochul has taken the unusual step of declaring that out-of-state extradition warrants that seek to punish New York doctors for practicing legal reproductive care are unenforceable.

"At 1:41 p.m. today, this office received an order of extradition for a New York doctor, an abortion provider, who lives upstate," the governor said in an ad hoc press address on Thursday. "She has been accused of participating in a murder, and 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."

See Also:

• NY Doctor Indicted By Louisiana For Prescribing Abortion Pill
• Arrest Warrant Issued For NY Doctor Who Prescribed Abortion Bill
• State Of Texas Suing Hudson Valley Doc For Prescribing Abortion Pill

An arrest warrant was issued earlier this month for a New York doctor indicted in January by a Louisiana grand jury on charges of prescribing abortion pills online to a pregnant minor in the state.

Grand jurors at the District Court for the Parish of West Baton Rouge issued the indictment against Ulster County physician Margaret Carpenter, charging her with criminal abortion by means of abortion-inducing drugs, a felony in Louisiana.

The mother of the patient, who was also indicted, has already turned herself in to authorities, District Attorney Tony Clayton told the Associated Press.

"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."

The governor who has previously condemned the prosecution of the New York physician, said that steps have been taken to protect the doctor, who has violated no laws in her home state.

"We have sent out a law enforcement notice that certain out-of-state warrants are not enforceable in the State of New York," Hochul declared. "So anyone who possibly pulls over an individual or is involved in a situation for a doctor who is protected under our laws is told, 'You are not to cooperate and enforce this extradition.' So I want to be clear that 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."