New York won't help other states punish abortions legal here

If you provide an abortion, New York generally won’t extradite you to another state unless that state says you were physically there when the alleged crime occurred and then fled. If you get, provide, or help with an abortion legally performed in New York, New York police cannot arrest you for that care. State and local law enforcement also generally cannot cooperate with out-of-state investigations into it, and New York courts generally cannot issue subpoenas or deposition orders for those cases. You don’t have to apply: the protections are automatic.

The extradition protection has been used. In February 2025, Louisiana sought to extradite New Paltz doctor Maggie Carpenter after charging her over abortion pills prescribed by telehealth. Gov. Kathy Hochul rejected the request, saying, “Not now, not ever.” New York had expanded the original law in 2023 so providers in New York could prescribe abortion medication by telehealth to patients in states with bans.

Sen. Liz Krueger sponsored the bill in the Senate, and Assemblymember Charles Lavine carried it in the Assembly. Lawmakers passed it on May 31, 2022, weeks before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The Senate vote was 45–18, and four Republicans voted yes. Hochul signed it on June 13, 2022, along with five other reproductive rights bills.