NY law will omit doctors' names from abortion pills to thwart prosecution in other states

New York doctors can now omit their names from abortion pill prescriptions under a new law meant to protect them further from being prosecuted in states with strict abortion laws.

The law, which lets doctors have only the names of their practices listed on the labels, took effect immediately after being signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday, Feb. 3. That came three days after an Ulster County doctor was indicted in Louisiana for prescribing abortion pills to a teenager in that state through a telehealth appointment.

"Now this doctor simply responded to a cry for help," Hochul said at a bill-signing ceremony, referring to the criminal charges against Dr. Margaret Carpenter and her New Paltz practice. "And in return, now faces a felony charge that subjects an individual to a prison term of up to five years. And fines as high as $50,000."

State lawmakers introduced and passed the short bill in January, before the Louisiana case emerged. It's part of the friction developing among states with clashing abortion laws since the Supreme Court ended national abortion rights in 2022. Louisiana is one of 12 states that have since banned nearly all abortions; four other states prohibit abortion after six weeks of pregnancy.

The border-crossing ease of online medical visits means doctors in states where abortion remains legal can prescribe abortion pills to patients in places where abortions were banned or curtailed. New York enacted legal protections in 2023 for telehealth doctors who write out-of-state abortion prescriptions, including a ban on complying with other states' extradition requests for those doctors.

Hochul has vowed to refuse any request by Louisiana for Carpenter's extradition.

Louisiana grand jury indicted Dr. Margaret Carpenter, her practice, and girl's mother

On Friday, a grand jury in West Baton Rouge Parish indicted Carpenter and her practice, Nightingale Medical, and handed up another indictment against the mother of the girl who allegedly obtained abortion pills by mail. The district attorney, Tony Clayton, alleged that the daughter was forced to take the pills and then suffered complications that resulted in her being hospitalized.

Hochul said Monday that authorities in Louisiana identified Carpenter as the prescribing doctor through the label on the teens' pill bottle.

New York's new law enables doctors to keep their names off the bottle by declaring that prescription labels for mifepristone and misopostol — the drugs used in two steps to terminate pregnancies — or any generic versions "may include the name of the dispensing health care practice instead of the name of the dispenser."

Both chambers in the Democratic-led Legislature passed the bill by wide margins in party-line votes on Jan. 21 and Jan. 22, with most Democrats in support and Republicans opposed. It was sponsored by Sen. Shelley Mayer of Westchester County and Assemblymember Karines Reyes of the Bronx.