New York county clerk refuses $100K Texas judgment against doctor in abortion lawsuit News
Janni Rye, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
New York county clerk refuses $100K Texas judgment against doctor in abortion lawsuit

The acting clerk of Ulster County, New York, rejected on Thursday the filing of a $100,000 judgment against a doctor who is accused of unlawfully providing abortion-inducing drugs to a Texas woman.

Refusing to file the summary judgment, Ulster County Clerk Taylor Bruck invoked New York’s SHIELD Act. He further noted that Ulster County’s decision is “likely to result in further litigation” and he “must refrain from discussing specific details about the situation.”

The February 14 default judgment stems from a lawsuit by the Texas attorney general against Dr. Margaret Carpenter, alleging Carpenter practiced medicine in the state without a Texas license and improperly aided an abortion, violating new, restrictive local abortion laws. Since Carpenter failed to respond to the civil suit, the court granted the state’s requested injunctive relief ordering Carpenter to cease prescribing abortion pills to women in the state and practicing medicine in the state, and imposing a $100,000 fine against her.

According to the lawsuit, Carpenter had prescribed mifepristone, a medication used to terminate a pregnancy up to 10 weeks gestation, to a Texas woman via a Telehealth appointment in July 2024. Texas law prohibits abortion with exceptions to preserve the life and “major bodily function” of the mother.

The SHIELD Act, signed into New York state law in July 2019, requires companies to develop, implement, and maintain safeguards to protect the security, confidentiality, and integrity of private data, including social security and account numbers, biometric information, username or email addresses, and password credentials.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul noted the state’s SHIELD law anticipates situations where other states could attempt to retaliate against New York doctors for prescribing abortion medications, like the lawsuit against Carpenter. “I want to be clear that we have taken all the steps we can to protect this doctor to continue allowing her to continue practicing what we believe is reproductive health, which I believe is an essential right,” Hochul said, the day before the Texas judgment was made against Carpenter. 

Last month, Hochul invoked the state’s SHIELD law in reaction to another New York doctor facing a criminal indictment in Louisiana.

In response to lawsuits against New York doctors who prescribe abortion medications by Telehealth appointments, the state passed a bill in December 2024 that aims to further shield doctors by listing the medical practice group, rather than the prescribing physician, on dispensed abortion medications.

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