BY SRH
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing Ulster County clerk Taylor Bruck for refusing to punish a doctor who mailed abortion drugs to a Texas patient $100,000. Texas law prohibits most abortions except where the mother’s life is at risk or the pregnancy will cause “substantial impairment of a major bodily function.” Paxton had sued Dr. Margaret Carpenter for supplying medicines to a Collin County resident. Carpenter did not respond to the suit, thus the attorney general won.
Bruck denied judgment enforcement. Bruck stated, “As the Acting Ulster County Clerk, I hold my responsibilities and the oath I have taken in high regard.
I have refused this filing and will refuse any similar filings that may come to our office under the New York State Shield Law.
New York’s “shield laws,” passed after Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, protect abortion providers in other states from prosecution. Texas wants a “writ of mandamus” to force Bruck to enforce Carpenter’s judgment. State Rights Conflict
Texas and New York laws clash, with Bruck in the middle. “This is uncharted legal waters,” “You have this clear schism and inconsistency in the law, and the only really appropriate venue to resolve it is the Supreme Court.”
Rahmani was cautious to declare the winner, but he thought Texas may win for two reasons. Beginning with the Supreme Court’s conservative makeup.
Second, Article IV’s “full faith and credit” phrase requires states to recognize each other’s laws.
The case may go to federal and Supreme Court appeals. Rahmani said federal law changes before a ruling may favor Texas. Early this year, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry approved a warrant for Dr. Carpenter’s extradition. That case included a pregnant minor whose mother bought abortion drugs.
Rahmani said that Louisiana’s extradition of Carpenter is doubtful since both states’ governors must approve, and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has refused.
After Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, New York’s “shield laws” prohibit prosecuting abortion providers in other states.
Kill’em those babies across State lines, New York’s “shield laws,” crafted following the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, forbid the prosecution of doctors who provide abortion services to patients in other states
