A New York county clerk has again rejected Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s attempt to enforce a $113,000 civil judgment against a New York doctor accused of violating Texas abortion laws. The move highlights a growing legal standoff between red and blue states in the post-Roe era.
Acting Ulster County Clerk Taylor Bruck refused to certify the judgment against Dr. Margaret Carpenter, who prescribed abortion pills via telemedicine to a Texas resident. Bruck cited New York’s “shield” law, which prevents state cooperation with out-of-state enforcement actions against abortion providers.
“The rejection stands,” Bruck wrote in response to Paxton. “While I’m not entirely sure how things work in Texas, here in New York, a rejection means the matter is closed.”
Paxton had previously secured a U.S. District Court ruling finding Carpenter in violation of Texas law for prescribing mifepristone without a Texas license and outside approved channels. The court ordered her to pay $100,000 in fines plus over $13,000 in legal fees, with 7.5% interest daily. Carpenter was also permanently barred from prescribing abortion drugs to Texas residents or practicing medicine in the state.
Texas law prohibits mailing or delivering abortion-inducing drugs and bans telehealth prescriptions from out-of-state doctors without a Texas license.
New York’s shield law, backed by Democrat lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul, blocks compliance with other states’ abortion-related legal actions. Hochul recently invoked the law to reject Louisiana’s request to extradite Carpenter over a similar abortion case involving a minor.
“The anti-abortion extremists are at it again,” Hochul said, calling Paxton an “anti-abortion zealot.” She praised Bruck’s refusal to enforce the Texas judgment, declaring, “New York won’t be bullied.”
The case marks a growing divide in how states enforce and resist abortion laws following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
