SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
The attorney general of Texas is suing a New York doctor for prescribing abortion pills to a woman near Dallas. It is one of the first legal challenges to shield laws in the U.S. meant to protect physicians after Roe v. Wade was overturned. NPR's Elissa Nadworny, who covers reproductive rights joins us. Elissa, thanks so much for being with us.
ELISSA NADWORNY, BYLINE: Good morning.
SIMON: What does the lawsuit say?
NADWORNY: So the lawsuit accuses a New York doctor of violating Texas law by providing the two drugs used in an abortion to a pregnant patient living in the state. And the suit says this 20-year-old woman who received the pills ended up in a hospital with complications. There aren't any criminal charges involved. It's a civil suit. But it seeks up to $250,000 and aims to stop the doctor from continuing to provide abortion medications to patients in Texas. In a statement, Ken Paxton, the Texas AG, said, quote, "in Texas, we treasure the health and lives of the mothers and babies, and this is why out-of-state doctors may not illegally and dangerously prescribe abortion-inducing drugs to Texas residents."
SIMON: The patient in question received pills under a shield law. Tell us more about that shield law.
NADWORNY: So at least eight Democrat-controlled states have enacted these shield laws, like the one in New York. They give abortion providers some protection from criminal prosecution, civil claims, extradition, things like that. But the laws have yet to be tested. So this case essentially pits a state with a near-total abortion ban against the state with laws that not just protect abortion rights, but specifically protect doctors in the state from prescribing pills to people in other states through telehealth. So Texas is essentially trying to test what the state of New York is going to do with respect to defending the actions of this doctor who was providing legal care in the state of New York.
SIMON: And, Elissa, what is New York's position?
NADWORNY: Well, the New York attorney general released a statement saying that New York will, quote, "protect our providers from unjust attempts to punish them for doing their job." The governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, who signed the state shield law said in a statement she will do everything in her power to enforce the laws of New York state. David Cohen, a law professor at Drexel University who helped craft that New York law, talked to me yesterday. Here's his take on the legal wrangling between the states.
DAVID COHEN: The courts of Texas are going to try and force the doctor in New York to participate in the lawsuit, and they don't have jurisdiction over her, so they have to get the New York courts to try and cooperate. And the New York courts are not going to cooperate.
NADWORNY: And yet despite that, anti-abortion groups are already celebrating the legal challenge.
SIMON: And, Elissa, what do we know about the doctor in this case?
NADWORNY: So the New York doctor is one of the founders of an organization called Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine. They help pass shield laws and offer support for providers doing telehealth abortions. In a statement, they said that the Texas attorney general was, quote, "prioritizing his anti-abortion agenda over the health and well-being of women." Now, Scott, it's worth noting that telehealth has made it much easier for people to access abortion medication. Like, even after the Supreme Court's Stop decision, which struck down Roe v. Wade, the number of abortions in the U.S. has gone up. About a fifth are now via telehealth. And then you break that down further, medication sent by shield law providers now accounts for as many as 12,000 prescriptions a month.
SIMON: And how could this case potentially affect women in getting access to abortion medication?
NADWORNY: Well, you know, long-term worry for abortion rights supporters is that this case ends up in federal court, and it has the possibility of making it harder for women in states with bans to get abortion pills by mail. But for now, nothing changes. I talked to Angel Foster about this. She runs the Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project. They call it The MAP to be more discreet. They operate under Massachusetts shield law. They have four OB-GYN that prescribe abortion medication to people, no matter which state they live in.
ANGEL FOSTER: We knew it was coming. Obviously, it's disappointing, and it's a little scary. And it's not unexpected.
NADWORNY: She says the only impact to her organization is that they're going to talk to their lawyers more. Just yesterday, they mailed about 150 pills to people all across the country. The largest number went to Texas, and they predict they'll end up sending about 3,000 pills to people mainly in states with bans this month alone.
SIMON: NPR's Elissa Nadworny. Thanks so much.
NADWORNY: You bet. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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