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 clerk declined to enforce Texas’ civil judgment against a doctor who prescribed abortion pills to a patient via telehealth, escalating an interstate legal battle that is expected to end up before the Supreme Court.

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.