Connecticut Democratic lawmakers called for expanding the state’s “shield law” for abortion providers and patients on Tuesday.

It comes weeks after a doctor in New York was criminally charged for mailing abortion pills to a patient in Louisiana. The case could be a litmus test for Connecticut’s law and others like it.

Weeks before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade in 2022, Connecticut passed the nation’s first law protecting abortion providers from lawsuits in other states. Since then, 16 other states and the District of Columbia have passed their own shield laws.

But a lot has changed in three years.

On Tuesday, Democrats called for expanding the Reproductive Freedom Defense Act to explicitly protect doctors who send abortion pills through the mail.

“We have seen the state of Louisiana attempting to prosecute a New York doctor for providing reproductive health care – abortion care – that is perfectly legal,” said state Rep. Matt Blumenthal (D-Stamford).

Earlier this month, Louisiana charged New York-based Dr. Margaret Carpenter with violating the state’s near-total abortion ban.

"The young child was told by the mother that she had to take the pill or else, and the child took the pill," said Baton Rouge, La., District Attorney Tony Clayton. “To ship a pill from another state is equivalent to me shipping fentanyl or any other type of drugs over here that end up in the mouths and stomachs of our minor kids.”

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul refused to extradite Carpenter, setting up a legal battle that could end up at the U.S. Supreme Court.

Blumenthal said he doesn’t know of any doctors in Connecticut shipping abortion medication out-of-state, but said the state needs to be proactive.

“We don’t want our health care providers to be the reproductive health care police for other states,” he told reporters. “They need to focus on providing health care that our patients, and any patients who come to them, need and deserve.”

Another proposal would expand Connecticut’s Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Protections Act to ensure emergency rooms offer reproductive care.

A similar proposal failed last year amid pushback from Catholic hospitals.

“This bill is a blatant attack on Catholic health care and religious freedom in our state,” Peter Wolfgang, with the Family Institute of Connecticut told lawmakers in March 2024.

Abortion providers are also getting financial help from state lawmakers.

On Tuesday, they approved an extra $800,000 for Planned Parenthood of Southern New England as part of emergency legislation.

“They’re serving people who are directly under attack right now,” said House Democratic leader Jason Rojas (D-East Hartford).

Planned Parenthood and other groups are pushing for an amendment to the state constitution guaranteeing reproductive rights.

But Republican leaders questioned the need in a state where abortion has been legal for 35 years.

“What are the needs of these organizations at mid-year they need to come in and get more money?” asked Connecticut House GOP leader Vin Candelora (R-North Branford). “There are certainly things that we can see going on at the federal level that people can be concerned about, but I’m not going to sit here obsessing on what is happening at the federal level, while at the state level we have our share of problems.”

Democrats said Connecticut can't wait for doctors to be prosecuted in other states.

“As our Republican colleagues across the country and here in Connecticut attempt to gaslight us, claiming we’re being hysterical and that we're fearmongering, we are prepared to fight back,” said state Rep. Jillian Gilchrest (D-West Hartford).