Louisiana prosecutors threatened to have enough clear evidence to extradite a New York doctor who allegedly prescribed abortion pills to an out-of-state teenager — as it was revealed the girl was planning a gender reveal party at the time of the so-called crime, according to a report.
West Baton Rouge District Attorney Tony Clayton warned that he would eventually apprehend Dr. Margaret Carpenter, despite Gov. Kathy Hochul’s staunch defense of the New Paltz-based doctor and refusal to extradite her to Louisiana.
“There is a warrant for her arrest in all 50 states. The question is: do you live like an Afghan terrorist? “You hide in a cave, avoiding the authorities?” Clayton told NOLA.com in an interview published on Friday.
“She has to travel to New Jersey and Philadelphia to visit relatives. If she goes on a cruise or does anything “outside of New York,” we will execute the warrant.
Clayton has repeatedly claimed that Carpenter violated Louisiana’s anti-abortion laws by sending a “cocktail of pills” to the teen’s mother last year, who allegedly pretended they were for herself before forcing them on her 17-year-old daughter.
Prosecutors argue that the guise could have been avoided if Carpenter had asked the family for more than a questionnaire. According to Clayton, the request was fulfilled without direct consultation.
“She should have Zoomed the young lady. I FaceTimed this young lady. “I spoke with the mother,” Clayton told the outlet. “If she had spoken with the mother, she would have discovered the mother was not pregnant… For $150, she mailed that poison.”
According to Clayton, the mother paid for the medication shipment with a credit card before telling the 17-year-old that she had to take the pills “or else.”
The girl, who has not been identified, accepted the ultimatum despite her initial request to keep the baby.
“She informed the mother that she wanted to have the baby. She even organized the gender reveal party. She wanted the child. “She was 17 at the time,” Clayton explained.
The teen’s mother has been charged with criminal abortion using abortion-inducing drugs, which is a felony punishable by one to five years in prison.
Carpenter and her company, Nightingale Medical, PC, face the same charge, but have evaded arrest due to Hochul’s refusal to comply with Louisiana’s extradition orders, which were submitted Thursday.
“I want to make sure everyone in the state knows: keep your hands off this doctor,” Hochul stated after receiving the paperwork.
“I am following the laws of New York. Am I supposed to make those obey the laws of another state?”
New York Attorney General Letitia James also weighed in, calling the indictment a “cowardly attempt from Louisiana to weaponize the law against out-of-state providers,” adding that it is “unjust and un-American.”
Clayton, on the other hand, remains unwavering, warning that he could rely on a 1987 Supreme Court decision that gave federal authorities the authority to enforce fugitive extraditions in a Puerto Rico case.
The ruling came in 2023 in response to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ pledge that he would not assist in President Trump’s extradition from Florida to face hush-money charges in NY. NOLA.com reported that Trump went on his own.
“I’m calling it a forced abortion, which makes it even more horrific,” Clayton told the outlet.
“Ignorance of the law is not an excuse.” If Dr. Carpenter was unaware that the mother was using this pill to induce an abortion involving a child, she is responsible. She shouldn’t have sent the pills.”
