AUSTIN — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit Tuesday against a Delaware-based nurse practitioner, alleging she violated Texas law by prescribing abortion medication to women in the state.
The lawsuit alleges that Debra Lynch, a nurse practitioner and co-founder of the telehealth organization Her Safe Harbor, mailed abortion pills to Texas residents in cities including Beaumont, Fulshear, Tomball, Houston and El Paso. The filing cites statements Lynch made in media interviews, including a profile published by the Austin American-Statesman.
Abortion is illegal in Texas except in limited cases involving medical emergencies.
Her Safe Harbor advertises telehealth services to patients nationwide, offering abortion medication as well as other gynecological care, including treatment for urinary tract infections, sexually transmitted infections, and prescriptions for birth control and emergency contraception.
In the lawsuit, Paxton described Her Safe Harbor as “part of a growing network of out-of-state abortion traffickers that deliberately target Texas residents.” He is seeking a temporary and permanent injunction to block Lynch and her organization from providing abortion medication to Texans and to prevent her from practicing medicine in Texas.
The lawsuit follows a cease-and-desist letter sent by the attorney general’s office to Lynch last year. After receiving the letter, Lynch told media outlets that Her Safe Harbor would not alter its operations and said requests from Texans increased after news of the letter became public.
Paxton also sent cease-and-desist letters Tuesday to two other providers he alleges have sent abortion pills into Texas.
