New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday rejected Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill’s motion to extradite the New York doctor who allegedly prescribed and mailed an abortion pill to a Louisiana mother.
“The governor of Louisiana sent an extradition request demanding New York turn over a physician who provided reproductive healthcare. New York is rejecting that request,” Hochul said.
Murrill announced on Wednesday she had filed a motion to extradite Dr. Margaret Carpenter, who was indicted by a Louisiana grand jury last month for knowingly providing a pregnant woman in Louisiana with an abortion drug.
“We will take any and all legal actions to enforce the criminal laws of this State,” Murrill said.
“We have sent out a law enforcement notice that certain out-of-state warrants are not enforceable in the state of New York,” Hochul replied Thursday. “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.”
Since the indictment, Hochul has said she would not comply with extradition and signed a law allowing doctors to request their names be omitted from abortion pill prescriptions.
“I will never, under any circumstances, turn this doctor over to the state of Louisiana under any extradition request,” Hochul said.
Murill said Hochul does not have the authority to resist extradition.
“New York officials, including the governor, are not at liberty to ignore interstate compacts and laws regarding extradition. As to the new law, a doctor prescribing these drugs and delivering them in our state is committing a crime. Masking their identity on a prescription bottle will not protect them,” Murrill said.
Murill warned Carpenter to be careful with her travel plans with a warrant out for her arrest.
“There’s an arrest warrant in the NCIC system. The doctor could be arrested in other places. If New York won’t cooperate, there are other states that will,” Murill said.
After the indictment, Hochul doubled down on her commitment to protecting reproductive access in New York from “anti-abortion politicians.”
“We always knew that overturning Roe v. Wade wasn’t the end of the road for anti-abortion politicians. That’s why I worked with the legislature to pass nation-leading laws to protect providers and patients. It’s more critical than ever for states to step up and protect reproductive freedom, and I’ll never back down from this fight,” Hochul said.
The case represents the first known criminal indictment of a doctor charged with prescribing abortion medication across state lines.
Louisiana has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country. Abortion has been illegal in Louisiana since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022. The only exceptions are for non-viable pregnancies and the life of the mother.
New York has moved in the opposite direction since the Dobbs decision. The blue state enshrined abortion access into its constitution this year under Hochul’s leadership.
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“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. 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,” Hochul said Thursday.
