The move stems from two cases in which doctors are accused of mailing abortion-inducing drugs to Louisiana residents, violating state law.

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill plans to take California Governor Gavin Newsom and New York Governor Kathy Hochul to federal court in an effort to compel the extradition of doctors facing criminal charges in the state, her spokesperson confirmed in a statement Thursday. 

The move stems from two cases in which doctors are accused of mailing abortion-inducing drugs to Louisiana residents, violating state law. 

Remy Coeytaux, a California doctor, was charged in January for sending abortion pills to a woman in St. Tammany Parish, while New York doctor Margaret Carpenter was charged last year for mailing medication to a teen in West Baton Rouge Parish, which led to terminated pregnancies.

Louisiana has formally requested the extradition of both doctors to face state felony charges.

Both Newsom and Hochul have refused to comply, invoking their states’ abortion shield laws, which protect doctors and patients from prosecution in states where abortion is illegal. 

“Kathy Hochul and Gavin Newsom are not above the Constitution, and we will hold them accountable. The Supreme Court’s precedents on important Constitutional provisions like the Extradition Clause and the Full Faith and Credit Clause forbid this assault on Louisiana’s sovereignty and her citizens,” Murrill said in a statement Thursday. 

The move highlights the growing interstate legal tensions over abortion in the United States following the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Louisiana is among several states that have tightened abortion laws, while others, including California and New York, have strengthened legal protections for abortion providers.