SACRAMENTO, Ca. (WAFB) – California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said Monday it has not received a formal extradition request from Louisiana following the indictment of a California doctor on felony charges for allegedly mailing abortion pills to a Louisiana woman.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill indicted Dr. Remy Coeytaux in St. Tammany Parish on charges of criminal abortion by means of abortion-inducing drugs. The charge carries a potential penalty ranging from one to 50 years in prison and fines.
California doctor Remy Coeytaux, who has been indicted in Louisiana on felony charges accusing him of illegally mailing abortion-inducing drugs into the state, according to the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office.(Attorney General Liz Murrill’s Office)
“California protects patients and their doctors,” Newsom said in a statement. “We will not be complicit in efforts to strip away their privacy, autonomy, or dignity. Stay tuned.”
Louisiana case details
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. A Louisiana woman, Rosalie Markezich, ordered the abortion pills from Coeytaux and sent him $150 to complete the transaction.
Markezich told the court she had no direct contact with the doctor and said she felt pressured to take the medication. In a separate filing, she said she opposed taking the pills but felt coerced, writing that “the trauma of my chemical abortion still haunts me.”
“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.”
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.
California’s protective measures
In 2022, Newsom signed executive order N-12-22 protecting state-held data and information from being used by out-of-state anti-abortion entities to target providers and patients. The order also declines requests received from other states to extradite health care providers for providing reproductive health care services.
The case is expected to be prosecuted by District Attorney Collins Sims in the 22nd Judicial District Court. 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.
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. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has refused to extradite Carpenter to Louisiana to face the charges.
“This case is not the only time [Coeytaux] sent abortion pills into our state – and it probably won’t be the last time we will indict him or the New York doctor,” Murrill said.
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