Women allegedly coerced into abortion intervenes in major case challenging mail-order pill

A woman allegedly coerced into an abortion asked to intervene in a major lawsuit on Monday challenging the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) decision to roll back safeguards on mifepristone.

Rosalie Markezich, whose boyfriend allegedly ordered abortion pills online in her name and pressured her to take them, is stepping into an ongoing legal battle challenging the FDA’s decision to allow mail-order abortions.

“Abortion drugs are illegal in Louisiana,” state Attorney General Liz Murrill wrote in a Friday filing asking the court to allow both Louisiana and Markezich to intervene. “But with the click of a few buttons and in just days, a man easily obtained them through the U.S. Postal Service from a doctor in California and coerced his girlfriend to take them. This is the devastating reality of mail-order abortion drugs.”

Under the Biden administration in 2023, the FDA permanently eliminated an in-person dispensing requirement. The Supreme Court tossed a challenge to the FDA’s regulations brought by doctors and pro-life medical associations in 2024, finding they had no standing to sue.

Missouri, Kansas and Idaho filed an amended complaint in January. In May, the Department of Justice (DOJ) urged the court to dismiss the renewed effort, arguing it was filed in the wrong venue.

Texas and Florida moved to intervene in the case in August.

Now, Murrill argues the accessibility of abortion pills undermine Louisiana’s ability to enforce state pro-life laws — and pro-abortion states are blocking enforcement actions against individual doctors who send pills across state lines.

“During much of this case, Louisiana was unaware of specific evidence quantifying the scope of this problem in the State, and so it sought to enforce abortion regulations against individual doctors and activists in other states,” Murrill wrote in the filing, noting new data shows “the problem far outpaces individual enforcement efforts.”

In January, a Louisiana grand jury indicted Dr. Margaret Daley Carpenter, founder of the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine, for sending pills to a mother who gave the drugs to her minor daughter, even though the teen did not want an abortion. The state hit a roadblock when Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she would not turn Carpenter over to Louisiana “under any circumstances.”

“A growing number of states have also started anonymizing abortion drug prescriptions—making enforcement at this granular level all but impossible,” Murrill continued. “Some even omit the names of the drug recipients, emboldening abusers who intend to coerce or trick women—and washing away inculpatory evidence.”

Murrill’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

There have been at least four alleged incidents of coerced abortions using the pill this year alone, including cases in Texas, Illinois and Louisiana.

During a DCNF investigation in June, five online abortion providers supplied pills for “future use” without a doctor verifying key medical information, like the stage of pregnancy.

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