A New York-based abortion provider has found herself in hot water after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton initiated legal actions against her. 

Paxton, in his lawsuit, claimed that she illegally sent abortion-inducing medication to a woman in Texas.

The Texas AG’s lawsuit named Margaret Daley Carpenter as the defendant. Per Texas law, most abortions are prohibited except in cases where the mother’s life or health is at serious risk. Additionally, the law bans physicians and medical suppliers from shipping abortion-inducing drugs into the state.

“In this case, an out-of-state doctor violated the law and caused serious harm to this patient,” Paxton said in a statement. This doctor prescribed abortion-inducing drugs—unauthorized, over telemedicine—causing her patient to end up in the hospital with serious complications. In Texas, we treasure the health and lives of mothers and babies, and this is why out-of-state doctors may not illegally and dangerously prescribe abortion-inducing drugs to Texas residents.”

According to Paxton’s lawsuit, the medication led to severe complications, causing the woman to hemorrhage and requiring emergency medical care—while also resulting in the loss of her unborn child. Paxton is seeking a court-imposed penalty of $100,000 per violation, citing offenses such as practicing without a Texas medical license and unlawfully distributing abortion drugs.

“Dr. Margaret Daley Carpenter of New York violates Texas law by providing abortion-inducing drugs to Texans through telehealth,” the filing states.

Carpenter, an abortion provider who is not licensed to practice medicine in Texas and is not authorized to provide telemedicine services within the state, is the co-medical director and founder of the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine (ACT).  Her organization advocates for the use of abortion medication. 

“Carpenter is not a licensed Texas physician, nor is she authorized to practice telemedicine in the State of Texas. The Court should enjoin Carpenter from continuing to operate outside the bounds of the law and impose civil penalties for her violation of Texas law,” Paxton’s lawsuit continues. 

According to Carpenter’s biography, she has been performing both surgical and medication-induced abortions since 1999.

In May 2024, a 20-year-old woman from Collin County, Texas, became pregnant but did not inform the baby’s biological father. According to the lawsuit, the woman had no life-threatening health conditions related to the pregnancy that may warrant an abortion under Texas law.  

The woman obtained abortion-inducing drugs from Carpenter. On July 16, 2024, she experienced severe bleeding after taking the drugs. She later asked the baby’s father to take her to the hospital after the bleeding became serious. It was there that he first learned of the pregnancy and was informed by medical staff that she had suffered a hemorrhage after being nine weeks pregnant.  

Suspecting that she had intentionally concealed her pregnancy and taken action to terminate it, the father later found the abortion drugs at their home.

Paxton’s lawsuit is set to test a recent New York Law that was passed to protect doctors who send abortion pills out of state.