NY county clerk refuses to file Texas' fine for doctor accused of
prescribing abortion pills
[March 28, 2025]
By MICHAEL HILL
A county clerk in New York refused Thursday to file a more than $100,000
judgment from Texas against a doctor accused of prescribing abortion
pills to a woman near Dallas, setting up a potential challenge to laws
designed to shield abortion providers who serve patients in states with
abortion bans.
A Texas judge last month ordered Dr. Margaret Carpenter, who practices
north of New York City, to pay the penalty for allegedly breaking that
state's law by prescribing abortion medication via telemedicine. The
Texas attorney general's office followed up last week by asking a New
York court to enforce the default civil judgment, which is $113,000 with
attorney and filing fees.
The acting Ulster County clerk refused.
“In accordance with the New York State Shield Law, I have refused this
filing and will refuse any similar filings that may come to our office.
Since this decision is likely to result in further litigation, I must
refrain from discussing specific details about the situation," Acting
Clerk Taylor Bruck said in a prepared statement.
Republican Texas State Attorney General Ken Paxton said he was outraged
by the refusal and signaled he would take action.
“New York is shredding the Constitution to hide lawbreakers from
justice, and it must end,” Paxton said on X. “I will not stop my efforts
to enforce Texas’s pro-life laws that protect our unborn children and
mothers.”
New York is among eight states with telemedicine shield laws, which were
considered a target for abortion opponents even before the standoff
between officials New York and Texas.
Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul last month invoked her state's
shield law in rejecting Republican Gov. Jeff Landry’s request to
extradite Carpenter to Louisiana, where the doctor was charged with
prescribing abortion pills to a pregnant minor.
Hochul on Thursday praised Bruck's refusal and said “New York is
grateful for his courage and common sense.”
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton makes a statement at his office,
May 26, 2023, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
 New York Attorney General Letitia
James also praised Bruck and said her office "will always defend New
York’s medical professionals and the people they serve.”
Bruck became acting county clerk last year after a resignation and
has been endorsed by county Democrats for election to the post. As
county clerk, he has an administrative role in court filings.
A call seeking comment was made to Carpenter, who is the co-medical
director and founder of the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine.
Carpenter did not show up for a hearing in the case in Texas.
Also in Texas, a Waller County judge issued a temporary injunction
preventing a network of Houston-area clinics from reopening. The
clinics were operated by a midwife accused by state authorities of
performing illegal abortions. The ruling extends a temporary
restraining order that shut down the clinics last week.
Maria Margarita Rojas has been charged by Paxton's office with
providing an illegal abortion and practicing medicine without a
license. Two other individuals have also been charged. The charges
in the case are the first time authorities in Texas have filed
criminal counts under the state’s near-total abortion ban.
The attorney general’s office has filed a lawsuit that’s seeking to
shut down three clinics northwest of Houston that Rojas operated and
that authorities allege performed illegal abortion procedures.
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Associated Press reporter Juan Lozano in Houston contributed to this
report.
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