These anti-abortion AGs know no shame.
On Tuesday, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill (R) laughably accused the California-based Dr. Remy Coeytaux of being a drug dealer after he allegedly mailed abortion pills into the state, charging him with “criminal abortion by means of abortion-inducing drugs.” It’s the second time the state’s top anti-abortion tyrants have indicted an out-of-state doctor.
“This is not healthcare; it’s drug dealing,” Murrill announced in a statement following the indictment. “Individuals who flagrantly and intentionally violate our laws by sending illegal abortion pills into our state placing women in danger.” (The missing word is the AG’s typo, not Jezebel’s.)
Louisiana has one of the strictest abortion bans in the country, and in October 2024 became the first state in the country to criminalize abortion pills. But California is one of 22 states and Washington, D.C. with a shield law in place, thereby protecting healthcare workers from being prosecuted by abortion-banned states—a states’ rights concept that Murrill seems to have difficulty grasping.
Murrill has previously tried to extradite Dr. Margaret Carpenter, a New York-based physician, for sending abortion pills into the state, though her request was refused by Governor Kathy Hochul (D-N.Y.), who declared she would “not now, not ever” comply. “Louisiana has changed its laws, but that has no bearing on the laws here in the state of New York,” she said in February. Texas anti-abortion AG Ken Paxton also faced a humiliating string of defeats trying to extradite Dr. Carpenter. In July, a judge rejected his appeal, writing, “Resubmitting the same materials does not alter the outcome. While I’m not entirely sure how things work in Texas, here in New York, a rejection means the matter is closed.” In November, he was shot down for a third time. Paxton had 30 days to appeal that ruling, but quietly let the deadline pass.
On Tuesday, Murrill and Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry tweet-bragged about signing, sealing, and delivering for Coeytaux’s extradition. If convicted, the doctor could face up to 50 years in prison and additional fines.
But according to California Governor Gavin Newsom, the state has not yet received a formal extradition notice, and it’s unlikely they’ll comply if, slash when, they do. “California protects patients and their doctors,” Newsom announced in a statement following the news. “We will not be complicit in efforts to strip away their privacy, autonomy, or dignity. Stay tuned.”
Previously, Murrill filed a 50-page warrant for Coeytaux’s arrest. But speaking to the Associated Press, she said that this “is not the only time he sent abortion pills into our state” before promising “it probably won’t be the last time we will indict him.” Get a real job, Liz.
Currently, Coeytaux is also being sued by John Mitchell, another anti-abortion bully litigator in Texas—a case in which the Center for Reproductive Rights is representing him.
“The state of Louisiana is going after doctors for allegedly harming women, yet they are enforcing an abortion ban that puts women’s lives at risk every day,” CFRR President and CEO Nancy Northup said in a statement shared with Jezebel. “Women continue to die from being denied abortion care.”
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