NY Governor Kathy Hochul: Telemedicine Should Cross State Lines; Abortion Pills Are Safe

Rachel Maddow: Um. Tell us about this decision, um, that you made when you received this extradition order from Louisiana. How should people in this country expect this case to move forward? How you expect the Louisiana governor to respond?

NY Governor Kathy Hochul: We put this in place as soon as we heard about the overturning of Roe v Wade. I need to protect our doctors because telemedicine is the number one reason people can get abortion pills, and two thirds of all abortions are now by pills and they've been approved by the FDA for 20 years. It's safe. We have a doctor who's trying to help someone in another state who's been denied the right of control of her own body doing what her oath requires her to do. And now she's treated like a criminal. It was not a tough decision for me, Rachel. I said no, and hell no. I will never, ever send this person to harm's way to stand for 15 years of possible jail time for just being a doctor. And that's what our country's come to. This is the ripple effect of the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the stacking of the Supreme Court onto the last of Trump administration. I, my mother's generation fought for these rights. My generation was able to take them for granted. And they're not there for my daughter's generation. My god. We've gotta stand up and fight, let these women know. And I'm sorry for the sisters in these states, but they're being repressed, but we should not allow government mandated pregnancies. That's what happens when women don't have control of their own body. So we're always proud to stand up for women's rights here in the state of New York.

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Most women who need abortions clearly can't control their own bodies because they permit men to impregnate them.

Do you think telemedicine should be allowed to cross state lines, especially when it conflicts with the laws of another state?