Doctor Indicted For Prescribing Abortion Pills

WASHINGTON - Jan. 31, 2025 - PRLog -- In the latest challenge to abortion rights, a doctor in New York has been indicted - and could face up to five years in prison - for prescribing do-it-yourself abortion pills to a young woman in Louisiana, notes public interest law professor John Banzhaf.  He is the author of:
How Fetal Personhood and Fetal Estate Lawsuits Threaten Abortion Rights (https://lawandcrime.com/opinion/how-fetal-personhood-and-fetal-estate-lawsuits-threaten-abortion-rights/).

New York's governor claims that she will not extradite the doctor to face trial in Louisiana, but both the U.S. Constitution (which seemingly provides that states may not delve into the underlying charge behind an extradition request) and the Uniform Criminal Extradition Act (UCEA) may eventually make this promise impossible to keep.

In any event the mere threat of criminal prosecution, and the financial, emotional, and other burdens of fighting a criminal indictment in states such as Louisiana and Texas, is likely to deter many physicians in states which protect abortion rights with so-called shield laws from prescribing abortion pills for women in some 18 states where they are banned.

But, warns Banzhaf, this is only one of many new legal tactics being tried out by those who oppose abortions, even in states where it is legal

Would-be fathers argue that, under the laws of Texas, aiding a woman to obtain an abortion in any way - including shipping her abortion pills - constitutes criminal murder under the state's homicide law and abortion ban, warns public interest law professor John Banzhaf.

Moreover, a major right-to-life organization, which is ready to file several wrongful death lawsuits on behalf of such men next month, is about to launch a social media advertising campaign asking male sex partners of women who decided to end their pregnancies to sue, says Banzhaf.

Such wrongful death lawsuits are likely to discourage anyone thinking of providing any help to pregnant women seeking to terminate their pregnancy by imposing on them the financial and other burdens of having to defend against a lawsuit brought by an attorney who specializes in bringing such litigation.

As one report explained, these wrongful death lawsuits "have opened up a new avenue of legal recourse for men who disagree with their partner's decision to have an abortion."

And wrongful-death civil lawsuits are only one of several novel legal actions anti-abortion groups and lawyers are already starting to bring, says Banzhaf.

He has documented and explained many others legal anti-abortion tactics - including fetal personhood, and lawsuits by (or on behalf of) a fetus still in the womb. or one which has been aborted - in:
How Fetal Personhood and Fetal Estate Lawsuits Threaten Abortion Rights (https://lawandcrime.com/opinion/how-fetal-personhood-and-...).

http://banzhaf.net/ jbanzhaf3ATgmail.com @profbanzhaf