A New York doctor was indicted by a Louisiana grand jury on Friday for allegedly prescribing an abortion pill online in the Deep South state, which has one of the strictest near-total abortion bans in the country.
Grand jurors at the District Court for the Parish of West Baton Rouge issued an indictment against Dr. Margaret Carpenter; her company, Nightingale Medical, PC; and a third person. All three were charged with criminal abortion by means of abortion-inducing drugs, a felony.
The case appears to be the first instance of criminal charges against a doctor accused of sending abortion pills to another state, at least since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 and opened the door for states to have strict anti-abortion laws.
Carpenter was also sued by the Texas attorney general in December under similar allegations of sending pills to that state. That case did not involve criminal charges.
Carpenter did not immediately return a message.
The indictment comes just months after Louisiana became …