A judge on Friday tossed a Texas lawsuit seeking to hold a clerk accountable for not enforcing a ruling from the Lone Star State against an abortion provider from the Empire State.
Justice David M. Gandin, who sits on the county Supreme Court, ruled in favor of Ulster County Clerk Taylor Bruck who refused to file a $113,000 Texas judgement against Dr. Margaret Daley Carpenter.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) attempted to send the judgment to Bruck’s office twice in addition to a court summons. The clerk denied both of Paxton’s requests, citing New York’s shield law, which protects abortion providers from facing legal penalties and extradition orders.
“Dr. Carpenter’s conduct falls squarely within the definition of ‘legally protected health activity,’” Gandin wrote in his decision, calling Carpenter’s work “the precise type of conduct (the shield law) was designed to protect,” according to The Times-Union.
The county clerk called the judge’s decision “refreshing.”
“The decision confirms what we had assumed all along — that we should not have filed the Texas judgment,” Bruck said in an interview Friday with The Times-Union. “The law seemed obvious to us, but since it was untested, certain people had questions about it.”
The latest decision comes after New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) in September moved to intervene in the Texas lawsuit to defend the state’s shield law.
“Texas has no authority in New York, and no power to impose its cruel abortion ban here,” James said at the time.
Following the case’s conclusion, Bruck said he was appreciative of New York’s protections for providers and those who enforce shield laws.
“We’re fortunate to live in New York state and have a Senate and Assembly that had the foresight to pass the shield law,” Bruck told The Times-Union. “In this first test case, it worked exactly as intended.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed a bill earlier this year that allows private citizens to sue health care providers that prescribe or distribute abortion medication to or from the state.
In his argument against the clerk, Paxton cited the Constitution’s Full Faith and Credit Clause, which urges states to regard other states’ laws — leading many to believe the case against Bruck could be escalated to the Supreme Court, the New York Times reported.
Gandin did not evaluate that argument, however, explaining in his decision that the Texas attorney general did not ask for an “independent declaration” on the constitutionality of the shield law.
The state still has 30 days to appeal the ruling but has not shared plans to do so.
