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RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — With a New York doctor facing charges in Louisiana for prescribing abortion pills by mail to a minor, some are wondering could the same thing happen to a healthcare provider in Virginia.
The answer is yes.
Currently, there are no protections for Virginia doctors, however, state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi (D-Richmond) has a bill in this year’s General Assembly session that would protect Virginia doctors from extradition. That would include cases where Virginia doctors provide prescription medications to patients across state lines.
“This includes prescribing medications via telehealth or across state lines as long as that provider is authorized to do so under the laws of the commonwealth and the laws of the commonwealth permit such medication to be prescribed in this manner,” Hashmi said recently on the Senate floor.
However, Republicans oppose the measure saying it would allow Virginia doctors to circumvent the laws of other states.
“What this bill proposes doing is having a Virginia doctor treat someone in another state and then trying to exempt that doctor from the laws of another state. We can’t do that,” said Sen. Mark Peake (R-Lynchburg).
Hashmi’s bill has already passed the Senate and is awaiting consideration in the House.