Louisianas top law enforcement officer is preparing to take the governors of California and New York to federal court in a high-stakes clash over abortion, state sovereignty, and the Constitutions extradition requirements.
According to The Washington Times, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill intends to sue California Gov. Gavin Newsom and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul after both Democrats refused to extradite abortion providers accused of mailing abortion-inducing drugs into Louisiana in violation of its pro-life laws. The dispute arises from two criminal cases targeting out-of-state physicians who allegedly used the mail to circumvent Louisianas protections for unborn children and its restrictions on chemical abortions.
One case centers on Remy Coeytaux, a San Francisco Bay Area doctor charged in January with sending abortion pills to a Louisiana woman despite the states near-total abortion ban. A separate lawsuit in Texas accuses Dr. Coeytaux of violating that states prohibition on providing abortion medication, alleging that a womans estranged husband obtained the drugs from the California physician and that she used to end her pregnancy, according to the complaint.
Gov. Newsom has openly boasted of blocking Louisianas efforts to hold the California doctor accountable, leaning on his states expansive abortion shield protections. That prompted a sharp rebuke from Sen. Bill Cassidy, Louisiana Republican, who told Mr. Newsom, Youre defending a so-called doctor who sent abortion pills to a MAN so he could coerce his girlfriend into aborting their baby that she wanted to keep, adding, That is not health care, its drug dealing. You should be ashamed of yourself for facilitating this behavior.
The second criminal matter involves Dr. Margaret Carpenter, a physician practicing north of New York City, who was charged last year with mailing abortion medication to a Louisiana teenage girl to terminate her pregnancy, prosecutors say. Louisiana authorities argue that both cases exemplify a deliberate effort by blue-state activists and providers to undermine democratically enacted pro-life laws in conservative states.
Louisiana has issued formal extradition requests to both California and New York for Dr. Coeytaux and Dr. Carpenter. Mr. Newsom and Ms. Hochul have refused to comply, invoking their states abortion shield laws to block cooperation with pro-life jurisdictions where abortion is largely illegal.
Ms. Murrill has framed the standoff as a constitutional crisis, not merely a policy disagreement. Kathy Hochul and Gavin Newsom are not above the Constitution, and we will hold them accountable, she said in a statement Thursday, insisting, The Supreme Courts precedents on important Constitutional provisions like the Extradition Clause and the Full Faith and Credit Clause forbid this assault on Louisianas sovereignty and her citizens.
Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, such interstate conflicts have multiplied, with conservative states like Louisiana enforcing some of the nations strongest protections for unborn life while liberal strongholds like California race to insulate abortion providers from any outside scrutiny. In a January hearing of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, Ms. Murrill renewed her call to crack down on the illegal distribution of abortion-inducing drugs, warning that activists are using the mail and friendly blue-state politicians to evade state law.
Activists have created an organized and dangerous scheme of drug dealing protected by politicians, she said at a January press conference, condemning what she described as a lawless medical underground. These are not medical standards. There are no medical standards in any state that sanction such irresponsible actions by a medical professional, and political preferences do not justify placing women at such medical risk. These are not medical professionals, and this is not health care.
For conservatives, the looming lawsuit is about more than abortion; it is a test of whether progressive governors can nullify the Constitution whenever it conflicts with their ideological agenda. As Louisiana presses its case, the outcome could determine whether red states retain the power to enforce their laws against out-of-state actorsor whether blue-state politicians will be allowed to shield favored allies from accountability while women and unborn children bear the consequences.
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