On Thursday, March 27, Ulster County Clerk Taylor Bruck informed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that he would not be filing a summary judgment against New Paltz doctor Margaret Carpenter. The Texas judgment seeks a civil penalty of over $100,000 from Carpenter.
Texas first pressed civil charges against Carpenter in December for sending mifepristone and misoprostol, two abortion-inducing drugs, to a 20-year-old Collin County resident. The biological father, who was unaware of the pregnancy, took the woman to the hospital for excessive bleeding last July. When he was informed that she had been pregnant, he “suspected that the biological mother had in fact done something to contribute to the miscarriage or abortion of the unborn child,” the Texas lawsuit said. The man returned to their residence and found the abortion pills that Carpenter had sent her. He then filed a report with Paxton’s office.
Texas has a near-total ban on abortion, with very few exceptions. Furthermore, under Texas law, only physicians who are licensed in Texas are allowed to treat Texas patients through telehealth services. Carpenter does not have a Texas medical license.
In February, Collin County District Court Judge Bryan Gantt issued a judgment ordering Carpenter to pay a penalty and stop sending medication to Texas. It was a default judgment, issued in favor of Texas because Carpenter had not responded to the court summons or appeared in court. Texas then attempted to file a summons with the Ulster County Clerk to force Carpenter to respect the ruling.
Ulster County Clerk Bruck announced on Thursday that he would not comply with Texas’ request. New York State has a shield law in place that forbids officials from cooperating with efforts by other states to punish abortion pill providers, and Bruck said that his action was in accordance with this law.
Carpenter is a co-founder of the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine, an organization which advocates for legislation to shield physicians from liability and works with physicians to expand access to telemedicine abortion care. Telemedicine abortion care is on the rise, as nearly 20% of abortions nationwide were done through telehealth services in late 2023.
In a statement, the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine commended Bruck for complying with New York’s shield law by refusing to file a judgment against Carpenter. “As anti-abortion states escalate attacks beyond their borders, it is more important than ever that New York’s legal system continues to defend access to care,” they added.
Bruck also received messages of support from several New York State Democrats, including Governor Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James.
“New York’s shield law protects patients and providers from out-of-state anti-choice attacks,” said James. “I applaud the Ulster County Clerk for doing what’s right.”
A New Paltz alumnus, Bruck has been acting Ulster County Clerk since August 2024. When asked about being at the center of a historical court case, Bruck said the experience was “a little surreal. The clerk’s office is generally just routine paperwork. We don’t often make national headlines, let alone regional or local headlines.”
The case is expected to reach the Supreme Court, as Paxton said, “I will not stop my efforts to enforce Texas’s pro-life laws,” in a statement following Bruck’s decision.
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