Louisiana Grand Jury Indicts New York Doctor for Prescribing Abortion Pills
On Friday the Associated Press reported a Louisiana grand jury indicted a doctor from New York for illegally prescribing abortion drugs in Louisiana.
Louisiana law prohibits abortion, and it generally is illegal to deliver abortion drugs into Louisiana from out of state.
The AP says the case appears to be the first time criminal charges have been filed against a doctor for illegally sending abortion drugs across state lines since Roe‘s reversal in 2022.
Abortion-inducing drugs take the life of an unborn child. They also carry significant health risks for women — including risks of sepsis and death. In some cases, abortion drugs actually can be more dangerous for women than surgical abortion procedures. That is why states like Arkansas have prohibited the delivery of abortion drugs from out of state.
Last year Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin issued cease-and-desist letters to New York companies advertising abortion pills in Arkansas. The letters alleged the companies were violating Arkansas law. The A.G.’s office reported that the advertisements for abortion pills stopped as a result of their cease-and-desist.
However, NPR reported last year that lawmakers in some pro-abortion states have enacted “shield laws” to protect abortionists who ship abortion drugs across state lines. The shield laws give abortionists immunity from civil or criminal liability and prevent them from being extradited to the state where the abortion drugs were sent.
The AP reports that New York has a shield law protecting abortionists. Louisiana’s grand jury indictment could directly test the law’s constitutionality. That could shape how states like Arkansas enforce pro-life laws in the future.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
Budget Proposal Includes $2M Investment in Maternal Wellness and Helping Women in Arkansas
A state budget proposal for Arkansas’ Department of Finance and Administration includes $2 million for pro-life charities that help women with unplanned pregnancies.
H.B. 1202 by the legislature’s Joint Budget Committee allocates funds for various state programs, grants, and administrative needs in Arkansas’ upcoming 2025-2026 budget cycle.
The measure includes $2 million in funding for grants to pregnancy help organization.
Under H.B. 1202, grant money could go to pregnancy resource centers, maternity homes, adoption agencies, and other charitable organizations that provide material support to women with unplanned pregnancies.
The State of Arkansas also could award funding to charities that promote infant and maternal wellness and reduce infant and maternal mortality by:
- Providing nutritional information and/or nutritional counseling;
- Providing prenatal vitamins;
- Providing a list of prenatal medical care options;
- Providing social, emotional, and/or material support; or
- Providing referrals for WIC and community-based nutritional services, including but not limited to food banks, food pantries, and food distribution centers.
The measure makes it clear that grant money could not go to abortionists or their affiliates.
Since 2022 Family Council has worked with the Arkansas Legislature and the governor to secure funding every year for pregnancy resource centers. These state-funded grants have helped support dozens of charities that assist women and children in Arkansas.
The grants are optional. Pregnancy resource centers are not required to accept public tax dollars if they do not want to. But for those who do receive grant money, the funding may make a tremendous difference.
Pro-lifers in Arkansas have worked hard to generally prohibit abortion. We need to work to make abortion irrelevant and unthinkable as well. Supporting pregnancy resource centers is one way we can do that.
Pregnancy resource centers provide women with real options besides abortion — making it less likely they will travel out of state or abortion or order illegal abortion drugs online.
H.B. 1202 will provide real support to women and families in Arkansas. You can read the budget measure here.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.