State officials, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, are vowing to protect an Ulster County doctor who was criminally charged with sending abortion-inducing pills online to a pregnant minor in Louisiana.

The case is drawing national attention to the debate of women's healthcare and abortion rights. Ulster County Physician Dr. Margaret Carpenter is facing felony charges after being indicted by a Louisiana grand jury earlier this week.

Carpenter is charged with criminal abortion and accused of sending abortion pills to Louisiana, a state with a near-total abortion ban, without exceptions for rape or incest.

News 12 spoke with Pace University Law professor Bennett Gershman for his opinion on this ground-breaking case.

"They're the lowest or they rank the lowest in terms of maternal deaths in terms of terrible pre-natal and post-natal care and healthcare in general. Louisiana is one of the worst states in protecting the lives of the mothers, children," Gershman says. "It’s ironic that Louisiana is showing how strong they are in protecting the fetus but after the fetus is born, you're on your own."

The Texas attorney general also sued Carpenter in December for sending pills to that state. That case, however, does not involve criminal charges.