In an unprecedented and deeply controversial case, Louisiana prosecutors have criminally indicted Dr. Margaret Carpenter, a New York-based physician, and Ashley Lights, a 39-year-old Louisiana mother from Port Allen, in connection with obtaining abortion pills via telehealth. Lights pled not guilty during her first court appearance on Tuesday, marking a significant escalation in the state’s aggressive campaign to criminalize abortion following the fall of Roe v. Wade.
The charges against Dr. Carpenter and Ashley Lights stem from an incident on April 5, 2024, in which prosecutors claim Lights “knowingly caused an abortion” by providing her daughter with pills obtained through telehealth. According to prosecutors, Lights had sought out Dr. Carpenter’s services online and “ordered abortion medication” that Carpenter mailed to Louisiana. The teen later purportedly experienced heavy bleeding and called 911 for help.
State officials have painted a dramatic narrative: Louisiana Governor, Jeff Landry, claimed the minor “had wanted the baby” and that her mother “conspired with a New York doctor” to “force” an abortion on her. Landry and Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill have repeatedly argued that the mother coerced her daughter into ending the pregnancy against the girl’s will. However, the local District Attorney handling the case, Tony Clayton, acknowledged that the teen “took the pills at home by herself” and then sought medical attention on her own. Clayton said the girl felt she “had to take the pill because of what her mother told her,” but he stopped short of alleging overt force.
Under the new law, anyone in Louisiana who possesses these pills without a special prescription from a physician licensed in obstetric care could face up to five years in prison and $5,000 in fines. (The law exempts pregnant women themselves from prosecution, in theory to avoid charging the person who takes the pills.) Supporters argued the change was needed to stop “illicit uses” of abortion drugs, such as someone secretly slipping a pregnant woman medication to end her pregnancy against her will. In fact, the provision was added as an amendment to a bill creating the crime of “coerced abortion” after a high-profile Louisiana case in which a man surreptitiously put abortion pills into his wife’s food. State Senator Thomas Pressly, the bill’s sponsor, named the law after his sister, who survived that ordeal.
Critics say the law’s effect is far broader – and more harmful – than its stated intent. By classifying mifepristone and misoprostol as Schedule IV controlled substances, Louisiana has effectively made it logistically harder for any pharmacy or hospital in the state to stock them. These medications are not narcotics, not addictive, and have long been established as safe, essential treatments by the medical community. Misoprostol, for example, is used routinely to manage miscarriages, induce labor, and treat postpartum hemorrhages – critical, life-saving care in obstetrics.
Yet Louisiana’s law requires storing these drugs under lock and key as controlled substances. Doctors have warned that this could delay emergency care; for instance, misoprostol might be removed from readily accessible “crash carts” in delivery rooms, since it now must be kept in a secured pharmacy area.
In response to Louisiana’s extradition attempt for Dr. Carpenter, New York Governor Kathy Hochul emphatically rejected the request, citing New York’s abortion shield laws that protect healthcare providers from out-of-state prosecution. Dr. Carpenter, who co-founded the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine (ACT), remains protected as long as she remains in New York.
Reproductive rights advocates warn that this aggressive prosecution sets a dangerous national precedent, potentially criminalizing parents and healthcare providers for making reproductive health decisions. Legal experts emphasize that Louisiana’s politically driven actions risk undermining not only healthcare access but also fundamental human rights and personal autonomy, marking a critical moment for reproductive rights across the nation.