A New York county clerk on Thursday blocked Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s effort to take legal action against a New York doctor for prescribing and sending abortion pills to a Texas patient. The escalating dispute between Texas and New York over the Empire state’s so-called shield law,

A New York county court blocked the state of Texas from taking legal action against a doctor who allegedly prescribed and sent abortion pills to a woman in Texas. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton had sued the New York doctor in December, accusing her of violating his state's ban by providing abortion pills to a resident.

On Thursday, citing New York’s shield law, the acting clerk of Ulster County in Kingston, N.Y., Taylor Bruck, said he would not grant Texas’ motion seeking to enforce the Collin County order. He also refused to allow Texas to file a summons that sought to force Dr. Carpenter to pay the penalty and comply with the Texas ruling.