Newsom To LA. Over 'Criminal Abortion' Extradition Of Healdsburg Doctor: Request Denied

HEALDSBURG, CA — A local physician has been indicted in Louisiana on felony charges of criminal abortion for allegedly mailing abortion-inducing drugs into the state, setting up a legal clash between abortion-ban states and California’s abortion shield laws.

Remy Coeytaux, a doctor based in Healdsburg, was indicted in St. Tammany Parish on charges of criminal abortion using abortion-inducing drugs, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill announced this week. The charge carries a potential sentence of one to 50 years at hard labor, depending on the circumstances, according to reports.

Authorities issued an arrest warrant for Coeytaux and entered his name into the National Crime Information Center database. An extradition request has been sent to Gov. Jeff Landry, who said Tuesday that he signed the paperwork to return Coeytaux to Louisiana for prosecution.

“I am signing the extradition paperwork to bring this California doctor to justice,” Landry said. “Louisiana has a zero-tolerance policy for those who subvert our laws," according to reports.

Abortion is legal in California, but is banned in Louisiana with few exceptions.

Murrill described Coeytaux as a “fugitive” and accused him of endangering women by sending abortion medication into the state, according to reports.

Louisiana Bureau of Investigation agents began investigating in March 2024 after a woman in St. Tammany Parish reported terminating a pregnancy using abortion medication obtained by mail, according to reports.

The woman told investigators she searched online for abortion drugs after discovering her pregnancy in October 2023, according to reports. She said she found AidAccess, an Austria-based organization that prescribes and ships abortion medication in the United States. She paid $150 via Venmo after completing online forms, according to Assistant Attorney General Barry Milligan.

Investigators said that several days after payment, in late 2023, the woman received misoprostol and mifepristone through the U.S. Postal Service and took the medication, terminating her pregnancy.
Using postal tracking information, agents determined the package was mailed from California by Coeytaux, according to the arrest warrant, according to reports.

The case is expected to be prosecuted by District Attorney Collins Sims in Louisiana’s 22nd Judicial District Court unless he recuses himself. State officials said additional investigations involving mail-order abortion drugs are ongoing.

The case could test California's abortion shield laws that blocks cooperation with out-of-state enforcement.

In a statement to ABC7 News, Governor Gavin Newsom's office said that California protects patients and their doctors.