New York Attorney General Letitia James on Monday said she will intervene in a legal fight over Texas鈥� ban on abortion pills, escalating a national showdown between states that have restricted abortion access and others that are defending practitioners who offer services to out-of-state women.
Her decision came over a month after Texas Attorney General sued a New York county clerk for refusing to file a six-figure judgment against a doctor accused of prescribing abortion drugs to a Texas woman. This continues a legal battle over shield laws that reach the U.S. Supreme Court.
鈥淚 am stepping in to defend the integrity of our laws and our courts against this blatant overreach,鈥� James said in a news release. 鈥淭exas has no authority in New York, and no power to impose its cruel abortion ban here.鈥�
In a statement to The Texas Tribune, Paxton called the New York attorney general 鈥渁 lawless abortionist鈥� and said that he will defeat her in court.
The legal fight first started in December 2024 when Paxton, accusing her of mailing abortion pills from New York to a woman in Collin County in violation of Texas law. Carpenter is the co-founder of the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine, which helps abortion providers in states with so-called shield laws.
Shield law protections, which exist in , seek to legally protect health care professionals and others who provide abortion-related services to those who live in states with abortion bans.
In February, a Collin County judge the New York doctor to stop providing abortion pills to Texans and to pay more than $113,000 in penalties and fees.
Acting Ulster County Clerk Taylor Bruck to file the judgment in March and cited his state鈥檚 shield law, which was passed in 2023 following the overturn of Roe v. Wade.
Bruck again rejected to enforce the judgment in July.
Paxton then sued the clerk in Ulster County. His office also argued in a that New York鈥檚 shield law violates the U.S. Constitution鈥檚, which requires states to respect other states鈥� 鈥減ublic acts, records, and judicial proceedings.鈥�
鈥淣o matter where [Carpenter] hides, our pro-life laws will be enforced, and justice will be served,鈥� Paxton said Monday. 鈥淭he Constitution expressly requires states to recognize the judicial enactments of other states鈥� courts, and New York, unsurprisingly, is choosing to ignore that constitutional requirement.鈥�
James said she will submit a legal filing later this month to argue that New York has the legal right to safeguard its residents and courts against 鈥渙ut-of-state overreach.鈥� She said Monday that she has formally notified the case鈥檚 judge of that decision.
鈥淥ur shield law exists to protect New Yorkers from out-of-state extremists, and New York will always stand strong as a safe haven for health care and freedom of choice,鈥� she said in the news release.
Besides this legal fight with New York, Paxton has over a dozen other attorneys general from Republican-led states in July in calling on Congress to take action against abortion shield laws. They similarly that such laws infringe on the Constitution鈥檚 full faith and credit clause and the extradition clause.
The Texas Legislature also just allowing private residents to sue anyone who manufactures or distributes abortion drugs to or from the state. Gov. has yet to take action on the legislation passed during the second special session.