A New York doctor has been indicted for allegedly sending abortion pills to a teenager in Louisiana, in what could be the first time a provider has faced criminal charges for mailing the medication since the rollback of abortion rights in the US.

The case is one of the first direct challenges to shield laws enacted in blue states that protect providers who prescribe abortion pills to out-of-state patients.

An arrest warrant has been issued for a New York doctor indicted on Friday by a Louisiana grand jury for allegedly prescribing abortion pills online to a pregnant minor in the Deep South state, which has one of the strictest near-total abortion bans in the country.

A female New York doctor was recently indicted on felony charges for allegedly prescribing abortion medication to a patient via telemedicine in Louisiana.