BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill has indicted a California doctor on felony charges for trafficking illegal abortion pills into the state.
Murrill’s office said Remy Coeytaux has been charged in St. Tammany Parish with criminal abortion by means of abortion-inducing drugs. The charge carries a potential penalty ranging from one to 50 years in prison and fines.
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A criminal arrest warrant has been signed, and state officials confirmed an extradition request has been sent to Gov. Jeff Landry, seeking Coeytaux’s return from California to face charges in Louisiana.
“This is not healthcare; it’s drug dealing,” Murrill said in a statement. “Individuals who flagrantly and intentionally violate our laws by sending illegal abortion pills into our state placing women in danger. We’ve seen the proof of that, with women showing up in emergency rooms after taking these pills and being coerced into abortions.”
According to court filings, investigators allege that abortion-inducing drugs were ordered online in 2023 and mailed from California into Louisiana without any in-person examination by a Louisiana-licensed physician. The filings state that payment for the drugs was sent electronically and that the medication was delivered through the mail.
In sworn statements, a Louisiana woman identified in court records, Rosalie Markezich, said her then-boyfriend used her email address to order the abortion pills from Coeytaux and sent her $150 to complete the transaction. She told the court she had no direct contact with the doctor and said she felt pressured to take the medication.
In a separate filing, Markezich said she opposed taking the pills but felt coerced, writing that “the trauma of my chemical abortion still haunts me.” She said the abortion would not have occurred if telehealth prescriptions for abortion drugs were prohibited.
“Rosalie is bravely representing many woman who are victimized by the illegal, immoral, and unethical conduct of these drug dealers,” Murrill previously said in a statement.
The case is expected to be prosecuted by District Attorney Collins Sims in the 22nd Judicial District Court.
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The indictment is part of a broader legal effort by Louisiana, Texas and other states with abortion bans to challenge the use of telehealth and mail delivery for abortion drugs.
Coeytaux is also the target of a lawsuit filed in July 2025 in federal court by a Texas man who says the doctor illegally provided his girlfriend with abortion pills.
Several states, including California and New York, have enacted shield laws aimed at protecting providers who prescribe abortion medication to patients in states where abortion is restricted.
Murrill has said Louisiana is prepared to challenge those laws, warning that out-of-state protections do not override Louisiana criminal statutes.
All three were charged with criminal abortion by means of abortion-inducing drugs, a felony.
The indictment against Coeytaux follows another Louisiana case in which a New York doctor, Margaret Carpenter, was criminally charged after officials said a pregnant minor’s mother requested abortion medication online and directed her daughter to take it. The mother was arrested, pleaded not guilty and was released on bond.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has refused to extradite the doctor to Louisiana to face the charges.
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