SACRAMENTO, Calif., January 15, 2026: California Governor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday, January 14, 2026, rejected Louisiana’s request to extradite Dr. Rémy Coeytaux, a San Francisco Bay Area physician indicted on criminal charges for allegedly mailing abortion medication to a Louisiana patient.
“Louisiana’s request is denied,” Newsom said in a statement. “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 healthcare services. Not today. Not ever.”
The extradition request stems from an indictment handed down in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, accusing Coeytaux of prescribing and mailing abortion pills.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill announced the indictment on January 13, 2026, alleging that Coeytaux mailed mifepristone and misoprostol to a Louisiana woman in October 2023 through Aid Access, an Austria-based telemedicine service.
If convicted under Louisiana law, Coeytaux could face up to 50 years in prison and substantial fines.
Newsom’s office emphasized that federal and state law grant the governor discretion to decline extradition requests when the alleged conduct occurred within California. California enacted shield laws following the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
“We will never be complicit with Trump’s war on women,” Newsom added.
California is among eight states that have enacted such protections.
Attorney General Murrill criticized the decision, stating, “It’s appalling to see the California Governor and Attorney General openly admitting that they will protect an individual from being held accountable for illegal, medically unethical, and dangerous conduct.”
Louisiana maintains one of the strictest abortion bans in the nation, prohibiting abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with no exceptions for rape or incest. In 2024, the state became the first to reclassify mifepristone and misoprostol as Schedule IV controlled substances.
Approximately 16 states now ban abortion almost entirely, with some allowing criminal penalties or civil lawsuits against providers.
Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which is representing Coeytaux in a separate civil lawsuit emphasized that “abortion pills are widely used and incredibly safe, including when provided via telehealth.”
“The state of Louisiana is going after doctors for allegedly harming women, while enforcing an abortion ban that puts women’s lives at risk every day,” Northup said. “Thousands of women seek abortion medication by mail each year because abortion is banned in their state.”
(Rh/VK)