I began thinking about this book shortly after the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Women’s Whole Health, which overturned Roe v. Wade. To me, it was apparent that by “leaving it up to the States,” the Supreme Court, despite its statements to the contrary, envisioned a national abortion ban. I say this because, given the extraterritorial reach of state power, the most conservative states can effectively intimidate healthcare providers in more liberal jurisdictions. Almost all states have laws criminalizing conduct that begins in another state and touches the state. For example, if drugs are sent from Indiana to Ohio, the people associated with the drugs can be prosecuted in both states for, at a minimum, conspiracy to violate the laws of both states. And lawyers know that conspiracy is one of the easiest crimes for a prosecutor to prove. All a prosecutor must demonstrate is an oral, written, or implicit agreement to commit a crime and one minimal overt act to further the plan.
While abortion is perhaps more complicated emotionally than drugs, the principle is the same. A physician who performs an abortion for someone from an abortion illegal state is at risk of prosecution in the abortion illegal state, irrespective of the fact that the physician possibly was never in the abortion illegal state and had no specific intent to break the law. (Remember, ignorance of the law is no excuse.) And while some states have created so-called shield laws, the practical effectiveness of those laws is uncertain.
This is the premise of Tortured Justice Alabama. I believe I captured the many forces at work in the United States in 2025: prosecutorial ambition and the willingness to use the law to the fullest extent, parents' desire to protect their children, the moral and legal dilemma confronting OBGYN physicians, and, ultimately, the politicization of health care.
One of my beta readers said, “I love the book, but I think such a prosecution is unlikely.” Two weeks after I received that comment, a prosecutor in Louisiana filed charges against a New York physician, her company, and the mother of a minor for prescribing pills for a medication abortion for the young girl. The charges are a felony, and the mother has been arrested. While the New York shield law protects the New York doctor, what happens if she leaves the state? Arrest warrants from one state reside on the computers of all states.
While the subject matter may be complicated or emotional, I try to balance the difficulties for the lawyers, clients, judges, and their families with humor and unrelated family drama.
I believe that readers will enjoy the book as much as or more than my previous two books.