Louisiana issued a criminal arrest warrant against a California doctor on September 19, accusing him of mailing abortion pills to a woman in Louisiana two years ago, violating the state’s abortion ban. However, just days after the warrant was issued, the California government enacted a new law on September 26, allowing doctors to provide abortion pills to out-of-state residents and providing legal protection for medical personnel and related attorneys involved, shielding them from prosecution or other legal penalties. This case has become the latest controversy on abortion rights among states in the United States following the Supreme Court overturning the “Roe v. Wade” case in 2022.
After the Supreme Court overturned the June 2022 ruling in “Roe v. Wade” that safeguarded abortion rights, conservative-led states have been taking steps to enforce or significantly restrict abortion, including Louisiana. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill took to social media on Monday, September 29, to release a statement vowing to hold the California doctor accountable for mailing abortion pills and defend Louisiana’s laws by suing governors who shield medical personnel involved from state prosecution.
Murrill stated, “I have been deeply concerned about the issue of illegally mailing abortion pills in our state and the harm such actions bring to women. Distributing these drugs to strangers, mailing abortion pills to strangers, regardless of any relationship to the eventual user, is a dangerous and unethical violation of our state’s criminal laws.”
According to court documents, a man in Louisiana used his girlfriend, the involved patient Rosalie Markezich’s email, to order drugs from California doctor Dr. Remy Coeytaux in 2023 and gave his girlfriend $150 to send to the out-of-state physician. Markezich stated that while she did not want to take abortion pills, she felt compelled to and the trauma of this medication-induced miscarriage still haunts her. She expressed that she would not have experienced this medication-induced miscarriage if authorities prohibited telehealth prescriptions for the drug.
Murrill and Markezich aim to join another lawsuit to request the court to ban telehealth prescriptions for mifepristone, one of the drugs that induce abortion. The defendant, Dr. Coeytaux, holds a medical degree from Stanford University and has been involved in medical practice and teaching for nearly 30 years as an independent practitioner without employing staff.
Dr. Coeytaux has yet to respond to requests for comments from Dajiyuan Times. California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a new law on Monday to protect healthcare providers, pharmacists, clinics, and hospitals from penalties for prescribing or dispensing mifepristone. The law also allows pharmacists to dispense these drugs without listing the patient’s name and without the prescribing physician’s name or pharmacy name and address.
California Assembly Bill 260 authorizes physicians to consult online and prescribe abortion medication, which can be mailed to out-of-state residents. The bill was passed by the legislative body on September 10. Newsom expressed pride in signing these bills in a press release, reiterating California’s firm commitment to defending women’s choice.
Additionally, he signed Assembly Bill 1525, which safeguards lawyers from sanctions when providing abortion services across states. Newsom’s office has not responded to the arrest warrant for the Louisiana doctor and related statements.