The Post-Roe Witch Hunt Is Here

Louisiana is targeting a New York abortion provider again. Here's how you can help.

One of these days, I’ll have some positive breaking news for you. Today, unfortunately, is not that day.

Louisiana Republicans are once again investigating abortion provider Dr. Maggie Carpenter—hoping to extradite the New York doctor to face felony charges in the anti-abortion state.

As you may remember, Dr. Carpenter was indicted by a Louisiana grand jury back in January—marking the first time an abortion provider has been criminally charged since Roe was overturned. She’s accused of “criminal abortion by means of abortion-inducing drugs,” punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

Today, New Orleans Public Radio reports that Louisiana law enforcement is investigating a second case involving Carpenter. During testimony in support of an anti-abortion bill, Attorney General Liz Murrill said her office is working with Shreveport police on a case in which the New York provider allegedly mailed pills to a woman who ended a 20-week pregnancy.

Murrill claimed, “She and her boyfriend, after she gave birth, took the baby, wrapped it in a towel, and threw it in a garbage can.”

More on that quote in a minute, but first and foremost: please remember that you absolutely cannot trust anything Louisiana law enforcement says about this case—or any other abortion charges.

Conservative lawmakers and prosecutors lie about abortion easily and often. Consider what happened when Carpenter was targeted in a civil suit brought by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Paxton claimed a Texas woman suffered “serious complications” after taking abortion pills sent by Carpenter. The truth? His suit showed no such thing.

In fact, this woman didn’t go to Paxton or anyone else claiming she’d be harmed by abortion pills. Instead, the Republican AG found out about her abortion after the woman’s aggrieved boyfriend came forward, furious that she ended her pregnancy without his permission.

We saw similar truth-stretching in Louisiana’s first criminal case against Carpenter. In addition to charging the doctor, district attorney Tony Clayton arrested the mother of Carpenter’s teenage patient, claiming she “coerced” her daughter into ending her pregnancy. But ‘coerced abortion’ wasn’t cited in the indictment, and there’s been no evidence so far that the young woman was pressured. That hasn’t stopped nearly every Republican leader in Louisiana from repeating the ‘coercion’ lie again and again.

As I’ve written so many times: what Republicans say in these cases isn’t about the truth—it’s about what plays best with the public. Knowing that most voters are overwhelmingly pro-choice, anti-abortion leaders think they can avoid political backlash by making these cases sound as extreme as possible.

So when Louisiana AG Murrill says that this woman “took the baby…and threw it in a garbage can,” please remember that. Republicans will say anything to make voters forget that they are trying to put healthcare providers and women in jail.

Not to mention, we’ve heard this “throwing babies away” rhetoric before—most recently in Georgia, where a young woman was arrested for her miscarriage. Prosecutors charged the 24-year-old who was found unconscious and bleeding with ‘concealing a death’ and ‘abandoning a dead body’, claiming that she tossed her “baby” in a “dumpster.” (She placed the remains of her miscarriage in the trash. Where else was she supposed to put them?)

Thankfully, Dr. Carpenter lives in New York—where shield laws protect abortion providers from civil suits or criminal prosecutions. So when Louisiana issued an extradition order in February, Hochul said “there’s no way in hell” the state was sending her anywhere.

But Republicans are determined. Murrill has continued to threaten Carpenter since the initial indictment, telling the doctor to “be careful with her travel plans.” And yesterday, the AG told a legislative committee: “We’re not going to stop trying to extradite [Carpenter] and prosecute her for the crimes that she’s committing in our state.” Even former U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi chimed in a few months ago, saying she’d “love to work with” Louisiana prosecutors to extradite abortion providers.

So what can we do?

For starters, consider donating to Dr. Carpenter’s organization, the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine (ACT). You can also support California Assembly Bill 260—which would expand the state’s shield law.

Why is this bill so important? It would allow providers—many of whom are prescribing from California—to keep their names off prescription labels for abortion medication. After all, that’s how the AGs in Louisiana and Texas were able to target Dr. Carpenter: her name was listed on the medication.

That’s why ACT and the Reproductive Health Access Project have organized a letter-writing campaign to California legislators, asking them to push through AB260 as quickly as possible.

So please sign the letter—no matter what state you live in.

Abortion providers are risking their freedom and safety to make sure everyone who needs care can get it, even in states with bans. The least we can do is show up for them.