New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday signed a bill to shield the identities of doctors who prescribe abortion medications, days after a physician in the state was charged with prescribing abortion pills to a pregnant minor in Louisiana.
The new law, which took effect immediately, allows doctors to request for their names to be left off abortion pill bottles and instead list the name of their health care practices on medication labels.
The move came after a grand jury in West Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana indicted New York Dr. Margaret Carpenter and her company on Friday for allegedly prescribing abortion pills online to a pregnant minor.
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.
Hochul, a Democrat, said she would not sign an extradition request to send Carpenter to Louisiana and said authorities in Louisiana discovered the name of the doctor because it was on the medication label.
“After today, that will no longer happen,” the governor said at the bill signing.