New York shields abortion pill prescribers after a doctor was indicted in Louisiana

ALBANY: New York governer Kathy Hochul signed a bill Monday to shield the identities of doctors who prescribe abortion medications, days after a doctor in the state was indicted for sending abortion pills to a pregnant minor in Louisiana.

The new law, which took effect immediately, allows doctors to request for their names to be left off abortion pill bottles and instead list the name of their health care practices on medication labels.

The move came after a grand jury in West Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana indicted New York Dr Margaret Carpenter and her company on Friday for allegedly prescribing abortion pills online to a pregnant minor.

The case appears to be the first instance of criminal charges against a doctor accused of sending abortion pills to another state, at least since the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade in 2022.

Hochul, a democrat, said she would not sign an extradition request to send Carpenter to Louisiana and said authorities in Louisiana discovered the name of the doctor because it was on the medication label.

"After today, that will no longer happen," the governor said at the bill signing.

Prosecutors in Louisiana said the girl experienced a medical emergency after taking the medication and had to be transported to the hospital. It is not clear how far along she was in her pregnancy.

Louisiana has a near-total abortion ban. Physicians convicted of performing abortions, including one with pills, face up to 15 years in prison, $200,000 in fines and the loss of their medical license.

Hochul said she would push for another piece of legislation this year that will require pharmacists to adhere to doctors' requests that their name is left off a prescription label.

Carpenter was previously sued by the attorney general of Texas for allegations of sending abortion pills to Texas, though that case did not involve criminal charges.

Pills have become the most common method of abortion in the US and are at the center of various political and legal battles in the state-by-state patchwork of rules governing abortion since the overturning of Roe v Wade.