David Crane/The Orange County Register via AP, File
California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) rejected an extradition request from Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry (R), who is seeking a Bay Area doctor accused of mailing abortion pills to the Bayou State.
On Wednesday, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill announced an arrest warrant for Dr. Remy Coeytaux, a doctor who lives in Sonoma County. Murrill alleges that Coeytaux mailed abortion pills to a Louisiana woman, who ordered them online after learning she was pregnant in 2023.
“We are going to continue to fight the illegal sending of abortion pills into Louisiana,” she said in a video posted to X on Tuesday. Murrill said an extradition request had been sent to Landry, who responded, “I am signing the extradition paperwork to bring this California doctor to justice. Louisiana has a zero tolerance policy for those who subvert our laws, seek to hurt women, and promote abortion. I know Gavin Newsom supports abortion in all its forms, but that doesn’t work in Louisiana. We are unapologetically pro-life. ”
On Wednesday, Newsom quote-tweeted Landry and responded to the extradition request.
“Louisiana’s request is denied,” he wrote.
Coyeaux was charged in Louisiana with “Criminal Abortion by Means of Abortion-Inducing Drugs.” In response to Newsom’s rejection, Murrill said it is “appalling” that California officials are “openly admitting that they will protect an individual from being held accountable for illegal, medically unethical and dangerous conduct.”
In 2023, California lawmakers passed a telemedicine abortion shield law to protect doctors in the state from out-of-state prosecutions. The legislation prohibits the extradition of individuals alleged to have violated another state’s abortion laws.
