Incoming Texas Attorney General Nathan Johnson, a Democrat, announced that his office will cease enforcing Texas’s statutory bans against out-of-state physicians who mail abortion medication into the state. Under Texas law, distributing, prescribing, or mailing abortion-inducing drugs is illegal and subject to severe civil and statutory penalties. Outgoing Attorney General Ken Paxton enforced Texas law by filing civil lawsuits directly against providers operating out of states like New York and California, seeking financial judgments to halt the illegal cross-border shipments.
Johnson’s announcement marks a deliberate decision to withdraw the state’s executive power from enforcing its own law. Addressing his decision, Johnson argued that Texas cannot claim extraterritorial legal authority over professionals operating lawfully in other jurisdictions, stating he would instead honor other states' shield protections.
Critics and anti-abortion organizations quickly pushed back, pointing out that an executive officer is declining to uphold active laws passed by the state legislature. While Texas’s underlying statutes remain intact, Johnson’s refusal to initiate lawsuits eliminates the primary legal threat previously used to suppress mail-order distribution, effectively dismantling the state's extraterritorial enforcement apparatus.
