The case is expected to test shield laws enacted in California and roughly seven other states to protect telehealth providers who ship abortion medication to patients in states where abortion is banned or restricted. Louisiana, which bans abortion at all stages of pregnancy with no exceptions for rape or incest, has reclassified mifepristone and misoprostol as controlled dangerous substances — sharpening the legal conflict with states that have moved to protect providers from out-of-state prosecution.
BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana moved Tuesday to extradite a San Francisco Bay Area physician charged with mailing abortion pills to a state resident, the second time Louisiana has sought to prosecute a provider based in a jurisdiction with laws shielding such doctors from out-of-state criminal charges.
Dr. Remy Coeytaux faces a criminal charge of abortion by means of abortion-inducing drugs, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill announced. If convicted, Coeytaux could face up to 50 years in prison and fines, Murrill said.
“Louisiana has a zero tolerance policy for those who subvert our laws, seek to hurt women, and promote abortion,” Republican Gov. Jeff Landry said in a post on X, announcing he had sent extradition paperwork to California. California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
What the charge alleges
According to court documents, Coeytaux is accused of mailing mifepristone and misoprostol in 2023 to a Louisiana woman who sought the medication through Aid Access, a European online telemedicine service. The woman took the pills in combination to end her pregnancy, investigators wrote in the indictment, which says authorities confirmed Coeytaux as the sender.
Murrill told the Associated Press she believes this “is not the only time he sent abortion pills into our state” and that “it probably won’t be the last time we will indict him.”
An email and a telephone message seeking comment were left for Coeytaux.
Shield laws at the center of the dispute
The case is expected to test protections that California and other states have enacted for telehealth providers who prescribe abortion medication to patients in states where abortion is banned. New York, California, and six other states have such protections, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports abortion rights.
Louisiana’s first attempt to reach an out-of-state provider established the legal terrain: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul refused extradition of a New York doctor accused of mailing abortion pills to a pregnant minor, saying her state’s shield laws were designed to protect providers who offer abortion care to patients in states with bans. That case appeared to be the first of its kind since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Louisiana’s abortion law and recent restrictions
Louisiana bans abortion at all stages of pregnancy with no exceptions for rape or incest. Physicians convicted of providing abortions face up to 15 years in prison and $200,000 in fines.
State lawmakers also passed additional restrictions targeting out-of-state prescribers and reclassified mifepristone and misoprostol as controlled dangerous substances. Medication abortion has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration since 2000.
Defense and parallel proceedings
The Center for Reproductive Rights, which is representing Coeytaux against civil charges, stressed that the Louisiana criminal charge is an allegation.
“While we can’t comment on this matter itself, one thing is clear — 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,” Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a written statement.
Coeytaux is also the subject of a separate federal lawsuit filed in July in Texas, where a man alleges the doctor illegally provided abortion medication to his girlfriend.