Louisiana Issues Arrest Warrant for California Doctor Who Mailed Abortion Pills

California governor recently signed a new law to shield doctors from liability for sending abortion pills out of state.

Mifepristone tablets in a Planned Parenthood clinic in Ames, Iowa, on July 18, 2024. Charlie Neibergall/AP Photo

Louisiana has issued a criminal arrest warrant for a California doctor suspected of mailing abortion pills to a patient in the state, in violation of state law, officials confirmed Sept. 29.

The state filed the arrest warrant on Sept. 19 for Dr. Remy Coeytaux, a Northern California physician, accused of violating the state’s abortion ban two years ago by providing abortion pills to a Louisiana woman.

The Louisiana arrest warrant came to light just days before California enacted new laws on Sept. 26, making the practice legal and shielding medical professionals and their attorneys from “adverse legal action.”

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill issued a statement on social media on Sept. 29 vowing to hold people accountable for distributing the pills in the state.

“On multiple occasions, I have raised concerns about the unlawful distribution of these pills in our State and the harm that it does to women,” Murrill stated.

“It’s dangerous, irresponsible, unethical, and illegal to distribute these pills to strangers in violation of the criminal laws of our State, without any relationship whatsoever to the individual who may ultimately be consuming them.”

Murrill added she would enforce and defend the state laws, including suing the governors whose shield laws claim to protect doctors and other medical professionals from criminal conduct in Louisiana.

The Louisiana patient, Rosalie Markezich, said her boyfriend used her email address to order drugs from Coeytaux in 2023 and gave her $150 to send to the out-of-state doctor. The patient said she had no other contact with the doctor, according to court filings.

Markezich said she didn’t want to take the abortion pills but felt forced into it. She also said “the trauma of my chemical abortion still haunts me” and that it would have never happened if telehealth prescriptions for the drug were prohibited, according to court documents.

Markezich and Murrill have also requested to join a lawsuit that seeks to order drug regulators to bar telehealth prescriptions to mifepristone, one of two drugs taken in combination to induce abortions.

The California doctor at the center of the Louisiana case, Coeytaux, has a medical degree from Stanford University and has been practicing and teaching medicine for nearly 30 years, according to his website. Coeytaux is a solo practitioner who has no employees.

Coeytaux did not immediately return a request for comment.

The case is the latest chapter in the abortion rights issue following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, sending the issue back to states in 2022. The Dobbs ruling has prompted new abortion laws in states.

Newsom Shields Abortion Providers

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new state law on Sept. 29 to shield health care providers, pharmacists, clinics, and hospitals from penalties for prescribing or dispensing mifepristone.

It also allows a pharmacist to dispense the drugs without including the patient’s name, the prescriber’s name, or the pharmacy’s name and address on the label.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a press conference at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., on April 24, 2024. Travis Gillmore/The Epoch Times

Assembly Bill 260 also authorizes doctors to prescribe abortion drugs through virtual appointments and mail the pills out of state. The bill passed the Legislature on Sept. 10.

Newsom’s office did not immediately respond to Louisiana’s arrest warrant or to Murrill’s statements.

In an earlier press release, Newsom said he was proud to sign the bills.

“California stands for a woman’s right to choose,” Newsom said in a statement. “I’m proud to sign these bills to protect access to essential health care and shield patients and health care providers in the face of amplified attacks on the fundamental right to reproductive freedom.”

Newsom also signed Assembly Bill 1525, which helps shield attorneys from State Bar discipline for assisting other states with access to abortion services.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.