Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing Taylor Bruck, a clerk from Ulster County, New York, after he refused to impose a $100,000 fine against a doctor who mailed abortion pills to a patient in Texas.
Texas law forbids most abortions, with exceptions when the mother’s life is at risk, or if the pregnancy will result in “substantial impairment of a major bodily function.”
Paxton had previously sued Dr. Margaret Carpenter for sending the drugs to a resident in Collin County, Texas. Carpenter did not respond to the suit, resulting in an automatic victory for the attorney general.
Bruck refused to enforce the judgment.
“As the Acting Ulster County Clerk, I hold my responsibilities and the oath I have taken in the highest regard,” Bruck said in a statement.
“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.”
New York’s “shield laws,” crafted following the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, forbid the prosecution of doctors who provide abortion services to patients in other states.
Texas is seeking a “writ of mandamus,” a court order requiring Bruck to enforce the judgment against Carpenter.
States’ Rights Conflict
The case pits Texas law against New York law, with Bruck squarely in the middle.
“This is uncharted legal waters,” Neama Rahmani, president and co-founder of West Coast Trial Lawyers, told The Epoch Times.
“This is exactly the type of case that the Supreme Court needs to take up because you have this clear schism and inconsistency in the law, and the only really appropriate venue to resolve it is the Supreme Court.”
Though he was hesitant to predict who would come out on top, Rahmani said he thought Texas might have a slight edge, for two reasons.
Firstly, the current makeup of the Supreme Court generally leans conservative.
Secondly, the “full faith and credit” clause in Article IV of the Constitution directs the states to respect each other’s laws.
What Happens Next?
The case may be headed for appeals in the federal courts and then the Supreme Court. Rahmani said changes to federal law are possible before a decision is rendered, and this may further tip the case in Texas’s favor.
Meanwhile, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed a warrant for Dr. Carpenter’s extradition earlier this year. That case involved a pregnant minor whose mother procured the abortion pills.
Rahmani noted that Louisiana’s extradition of Carpenter is unlikely to go anywhere, since that procedure requires the governors of both states to sign off—and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has already refused to do so.
—Stacy Robinson
BOOKMARKS
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On Thursday, Trump signed an executive order reestablishing the Presidential Fitness Test, a series of endurance challenges for young people aged 10–17. The program was established by President Lyndon Johnson in 1966, but canceled by President Barack Obama 48 years later.
—Stacy Robinson
