Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton moved on Monday to make a New York official comply with his efforts to crack down on the illegal shipping of abortion pills into the Lone Star State.
Paxton filed a legal petition against Acting County Clerk for Ulster County Taylor Bruck for not allowing him to enforce a legal judgement against a New York-based abortionist accused of sending pills into Texas in violation of state law. Earlier this year, the abortionist, Margaret Carpenter, was handed down a $100,000 penalty by a Texas judge for violating the law, but local New York officials have so far blocked the collection of the fine.
“Dr. Carpenter is a radical abortionist who must face justice, not get legal protection from New York liberals intent on ending the lives of as many unborn children as they can,” Paxton said. “No matter where they reside, pro-abortion extremists who send drugs designed to kill the unborn into Texas will face the full force of our state’s pro-life laws.”
Paxton is seeking a writ of mandamus against Bruck to force him to comply with the collection of the penalty and the suit against Carpenter.
New York has implemented a “shield law” to protect abortionists from being prosecuted by out-of-state authorities.
“While pending litigation limits what I can share, I want to make clear that it is an honor to serve Ulster County in this role, and I am especially grateful to do so at such a critical moment for our county, our state, and the protection of fundamental rights under New York law,” Bruck told the Times Union.
The case first began in December 2024 when Paxton sued Carpenter for allegedly sending abortion drugs to a Collin County woman that landed her in the hospital and ended the life of her unborn son. In February, a Collin County judge found that Carpenter had violated Texas law after she failed to appear in court to defend herself. The judge also handed down a $100,000 penalty.
Carpenter has also been indicted in Louisiana on charges of criminal abortion by means of abortion-inducing drugs. Carpenter is accused of mailing abortion drugs to a woman in Louisiana who then pressured her underage daughter into taking them and ending the life of her unborn child.