Louisiana Attorney General Signs Off on Extraditing NY Doctor in Abortion Pill Case

Liz Murrill warns physician to “be careful with her travel plans.”

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill signed an extradition form Wednesday for a New York physician, she announced in a news release. Her action comes less than two weeks after a Louisiana grand jury indicted the doctor for prescribing and shipping abortion pills to the state.

Murrill has said she will prosecute Dr. Margaret Carpenter and the West Baton Rouge woman who allegedly ordered the medication for her pregnant minor daughter.

“We will take any and all legal actions to enforce the criminal laws of this state,” Murrill wrote in her statement, adding that the extradition form was sent to Gov. Jeff Landry’s desk.

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Landry signed the order Wednesday, releasing a video on Facebook the following day with his remarks. See the video below. The governor repeated statements he and Murrill made since the Jan. 31 indictment, that the pregnant minor had wanted the baby and her mother “conspired with a New York doctor” to order abortion pills in the mail and then “forced” her daughter to take the medication.

The crime of coerced abortion was not cited in the indictment. The district attorney involved in the case said the minor took the pills at home by herself and then called 911 and was taken to the hospital when she started bleeding.

“There’s only one right answer in this situation,” Landry said in his video statement. “It is that that doctor must face extradition to Louisiana, where she can stand trial and justice will be served.”

The criminal case against Carpenter is the first of its kind in the country since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, which triggered Louisiana’s strict abortion ban. 

The mother Carpenter allegedly shipped the medication to faces a felony charge for purchasing the pills. The woman, who is not being identified to protect her daughter’s privacy, was arrested and released on bond.

“Dr. Carpenter needs to be careful with her travel plans,” Murrill posted on social media last week. “There is an active warrant for her arrest because she clearly broke Louisiana law, & a grand jury indicted her in just minutes. The doctor’s actions facilitated the death of a wanted child. Louisiana will continue to protect women & babies!”

When asked if Murrill planned to rely on her peers in other states to extradite Carpenter should the doctor travel there, her spokesman, Lester Duhé, referred the Illuminator to a statement the Republican attorney general made previously. 

“New York officials, including the governor, are not at liberty to ignore interstate compacts and laws regarding extradition,” Murrill said. “The doctor could be arrested in other places. If New York won’t cooperate, there are other states that will.”

Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has firmly stated she will “never, under any circumstances” turn over Carpenter to Louisiana. The state’s attorney general, Letitia James, also a Democrat, was in lockstep with Hochul.

“This cowardly attempt out of Louisiana to weaponize the law against out-of-state providers is unjust and un-American,” James said earlier this month. “Medication abortion is safe, effective, and necessary, and New York will ensure that it remains available to all Americans who need it.”

Hochul could not be immediately reached Wednesday for comment on Murrill’s extradition order. A representative for James referred a reporter to her previous statement. 

Tony Clayton, the district attorney for West Baton Rouge Parish who will prosecute the case alongside Murrill, previously told the Illuminator he was shocked Carpenter will not come to Louisiana to be arrested.

“You broke the law in the state of Louisiana, and you ought to come down here and answer the charges,” Clayton said.