New Paltz
Doctor Indicted for Sending Abortion Pills
A grand jury in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, indicted a New York doctor who allegedly sent abortion pills to a minor after an online consultation. Louisiana bans nearly all abortions.
The indictment names Dr. Margaret Carpenter; her company, Nightingale Medical; and the minor’s mother. All three face felony charges. In December, Carpenter was sued by the state of Texas for allegedly sending abortion pills to that state.
“I will never, under any circumstances, turn this doctor over to the state of Louisiana under any extradition requests,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said in response.
On Monday (Feb. 3), Hochul enacted a law that allows doctors who prescribe abortion medications to request that the bottles list only their practices and not their names. The bill passed the Senate, 39-20 (Sen. Rob Rolison, a Republican whose district includes the Highlands, voted no), and the Assembly, 95-42 (Dana Levenberg, a Democrat whose district includes Philipstown, and Jonathan Jacobson, a Democrat whose district includes Beacon, voted yes).
New York City
NewYork-Presbyterian Erases Gender Care
NewYork-Presbyterian removed references to gender-affirming care for young people from its website in response to an executive order by President Donald Trump that threatened federal funding to hospitals, according to The City.
The medical system, which has a hospital in Cortlandt Manor and specialists in Cold Spring, scrubbed a reference to its Compass program for “puberty suppression and gender-affirming hormone treatment.” The program is offered in Manhattan to children, adolescents and young adults under age 20.
The website described Compass as “a safe space for youth navigating their gender experience”; it’s now “a supportive space for youth and gender.” The words transgender and gender-diverse children were removed, and the hospital took down a 2022 “pledge of support for transgender youth.”
Another hospital, NYU Langone, canceled at least two gender-transition treatment appointments for adolescents, according to news reports, prompting Attorney General Letitia James to warn hospitals that a 2023 state law requires them to provide care.
Orange County
Senator Proposes Leaving Commuter District
A state senator has introduced legislation to remove Orange County from the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District.
Jonathan Jacobson, an Assembly member whose district includes Beacon, will introduce the legislation in the Assembly. Sen. Rob Rolison, whose district includes the Highlands, supports the bill, according to Sen. James Skoufis, who introduced it.
In a statement, Skoufis noted that Orange County has only infrequent and indirect service into Manhattan and shares a single vote on the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority with Dutchess, Putnam and Rockland counties.
By withdrawing, he said, residents would no longer contribute payroll, gas, sales and other taxes to the transportation district, he said. “I’m sick and tired of Orange County being treated as the MTA’s ATM,” Skoufis said.