"As part of its ongoing crusade against abortion pills, Texas sued a nurse practitioner on Tuesday, accusing her of shipping pills into Texas in defiance of the state's abortion ban. The nurse practitioner, Debra Lynch, operates a Delaware-based group called Her Safe Harbor, which mails abortion pills to women living in states with abortion bans. Now, Texas wants a court to block Lynch from performing, inducing or attempting abortions in Texas, on the grounds that Texas law only permits physicians to facilitate abortions in cases of medical emergencies."
"But such efforts have enraged anti-abortion advocates and sparked a legal war between states that protect abortion rights and states that ban the procedure. Texas has already sued a New York-based doctor, Margaret Carpenter, over allegations that she mailed abortion pills into the state, while Louisiana has indicted both Carpenter and a California-based doctor named Remy Coeytaux. Officials in New York and California, which also have shield laws on the books, have refused to cooperate with those efforts."
"The safeguards offered by each state's shield law vary. Eight states, including New York and California, clearly allow providers to use telemedicine to prescribe abortion pills to patients located in states where the procedure is banned. But legal experts have questioned whether Delaware's shield law, which was first passed in 2022, always protects providers who offer telemedicine across state lines. Delaware's law was expanded in late 2025, in part to clarify that officials may not aid out-of-state investigations into abortion providers"
Texas sued Debra Lynch, who operates a Delaware-based group called Her Safe Harbor, accusing her of shipping abortion pills into Texas in defiance of the state ban. Texas seeks a court order blocking Lynch from performing, inducing, or attempting abortions in Texas, asserting state law permits only physicians to facilitate abortions except in medical emergencies. Groups that mail abortion pills have proliferated since Roe v. Wade was overturned, and several blue states enacted shield laws to protect out-of-state providers. Shield laws vary; eight states clearly allow telemedicine prescriptions across state lines, while questions remain about Delaware's protections. Delaware expanded its law in late 2025 to clarify that officials may not aid out-of-state investigations into abortion providers.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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