California Gov. Gavin Newsom rejected a request from Louisiana to extradite a doctor from the Golden State who was accused of mailing abortion pills to a woman.
Louisiana has some of the strictest abortion laws in the country and its Republican governor, Jeff Landry, wrote to Newsom’s administration earlier this week to “bring this California doctor to justice.”
But Newsom rejected the request Wednesday in a blunt statement shared on his official press office X account.
“Louisiana’s request is denied,” Newsom said. “My position on this has been clear since 2022: We will not allow extremist politicians from other states to reach into California and try to punish doctors based on allegations that they provided reproductive health care services.”
“Not today. Not ever,” he added. “We will never be complicit with Trump’s war on women.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom slapped down a request from Louisiana to extradite a doctor from the Golden State accused of mailing abortion pills to a woman (Getty Images)
Remy Coeytaux, a physician in the San Francisco Bay Area, faces a criminal charge of abortion by means of abortion-inducing drugs, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill announced Tuesday. If convicted, the doctor could face up to 50 years in jail and fines, Murrill said.
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, according to court documents. The woman took the pills in combination to end her pregnancy, investigators wrote in the indictment, which says authorities confirmed Coeytaux as the sender.
In a statement to The Independent, the Center for Reproductive Rights, a legal advocacy group that is representing Coeytaux against civil charges, stressed that the criminal charge in Louisiana 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, the group’s president, said.
Landry said Louisiana has a “zero tolerance policy for those who subvert our laws, seek to hurt women, and promote abortion” in a statement Tuesday.
“I know Gavin Newsom supports abortion in all its forms, but that doesn’t work in Louisiana,” Landry said. “We are unapologetically pro-life.”
Louisiana has some of the strictest abortion laws in the country, with a near-total ban following the overturning of Roe v Wade in 2022 (Getty Images)
Louisiana bans abortion at all stages of pregnancy with no exceptions for rape or incest following the U.S. the Supreme Court’s revocation of a constitutional right to abortion by reversing the decades-long precedent held in Roe v Wade in June 2022.
There are exemptions when there is a substantial risk of death or impairment to the patient in continuing the pregnancy and in cases where the fetus has a fatal abnormality.
Last year, state lawmakers passed additional restrictions targeting out-of-state prescribers and reclassified mifepristone and misoprostol as controlled dangerous substances.
The case surrounding Coeytaux is the second time Louisiana has pursued an out-of-state doctor under its abortion restrictions. Physicians convicted of providing abortions in Louisiana face up to 15 years in prison and $200,000 in fines.
The physician 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.
The Associated Press contributed reporting
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