Louisiana AG Fights Against Abortion Pills
The Republican Attorney General of Louisiana, Liz Murrill, is intensifying efforts to prevent abortion pills from entering states that have banned abortions. She has initiated two lawsuits aimed at addressing this issue. One targets the providers accused of distributing the drugs, while the other challenges laws in blue states that protect these providers from prosecution.
On Wednesday, Murrill joined forces with Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall and Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin to file a lawsuit against New York, California, and Massachusetts at the Supreme Court. They claim that these states’ shield laws obstruct cooperation with investigations into abortion-pill providers. Additionally, another lawsuit was filed in Louisiana against more than 30 individuals and organizations accused of promoting, prescribing, or distributing abortion pills in their states.
Murrill commented, “This is drug dealing and it’s illegal, and we’re going to continue to do everything that we can to enforce the laws in our states.”
These lawsuits come amidst an ongoing state-by-state battle over abortion. This conflict has heightened since the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in 2022, which overturned Roe v. Wade and shifted the power to set abortion policy to elected officials in each state.
Louisiana has accused New York and California physicians of illegally prescribing abortion drugs. However, New York Governor Kathy Hochul and California Governor Gavin Newsom have refused to extradite these doctors. The Supreme Court complaint highlights how New York’s shield laws prevent such extraditions and mentions Hochul’s refusal to comply with Louisiana’s extradition request.
According to the lawsuit, these shield laws allow the prescribers’ names to remain off prescription labels, hindering enforcement efforts. Governor Newsom similarly rejected Louisiana’s request to extradite a physician, stating that California would not penalize doctors for providing legal abortion access within the state.
The second lawsuit, which Murrill describes as targeting the “pill pipeline,” argues that certain providers use online questionnaires to gather customer information before shipping abortion drugs into restricted states. Some organizations allegedly acknowledged that their actions violated state laws but leaned on shield laws for protection. Investigators conducted controlled purchases, finding pills packaged in small bags, sometimes in excessive amounts.
Murrill noted, “We’ve seen it for ourselves. There’s no supervision, there’s no healthcare, there’s no communication whatsoever. It’s all done online.”
She raised concerns that the system might allow individuals other than pregnant women to access the drugs. She pointed to incidents where Louisiana authorities reported cases of women being pressured into taking abortion medication. For example, a case involved a father who reportedly forced his teenage daughter to take the medication by incorporating it into a smoothie.
Murrill has called for more support from the federal government, specifically the FDA, to address the issue, as Louisiana challenges separate federal rules concerning mifepristone.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, President of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, expressed support for the litigation, accusing certain states of obstructing justice and urging the Justice Department to resolve Louisiana’s FDA-related litigation.
Fox News Digital contacted the governors’ offices of New York, California, and Massachusetts for their comments on the issue.