Louisiana, Alabama and Arkansas sue states over abortion pill protections

(The Center Square) –Louisiana, Alabama and Arkansas have filed a lawsuit against California, New York and Massachusetts, alleging those states are helping abortion providers send abortion-inducing drugs into states where the procedure is outlawed, the three plaintiff states’ attorneys general announced Wednesday.

The lawsuit challenges shield laws enacted by the three defendant states after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. Those laws are designed to protect doctors and other providers from investigations, lawsuits, extradition requests and professional discipline stemming from abortion services that are legal in their home states.

Louisiana, Alabama and Arkansas are asking the Supreme Court to hear the lawsuit directly, but Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said the court has discretion over whether to accept the case, a position some justices dispute.

"A number of us have a legal opinion that they are obligated under the Constitution to take the case," Murrill said. "Justice Alito and Justice Thomas both believe that it is mandatory that they assert jurisdiction. The current state of the law right now is that they exercise discretion over whether to accept it or not."

The complaint alleges the shield laws have effectively insulated out-of-state providers from Louisiana investigations and enforcement efforts. Louisiana currently has two extradition requests involving doctors in California and New York, and both states have refused to comply.

"If I sent guns to her state in violation of those laws, I don't think she would have the same reaction to her state trying to enforce its laws to prevent us from sending weapons to her state in violation of their state laws," Murrill said of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.

A Louisiana grand jury previously indicted New York physician Margaret Carpenter over allegations that she prescribed abortion drugs that were sent to a pregnant Louisiana teenager. Hochul refused Louisiana’s extradition request, citing her state’s protections, and New York later changed its law to allow prescribers of abortion medication to keep their names off prescription labels.

Louisiana also sought the extradition of California physician Remy Coeytaux after accusing him of mailing abortion medication to Louisiana. California Gov. Gavin Newsom refused to cooperate with the request.

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Murrill compared the refusals to cooperate with declining to extradite someone accused of shipping cocaine or fentanyl into another state.

During the news conference announcing the lawsuit, Murrill was joined by Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin and Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall. Each argued the dispute ultimately concerns whether states can enforce their own abortion laws.

"This is, in large part, about fulfilling what Dobbs ... was about, which is each state deciding through their duly elected representatives what the law of those states are going to be and enforcing that law," Griffin said.

Marshall described the central issue more simply: "Who gets to decide?"

"Our elected representatives in Alabama have declared abortion unlawful," Marshall said. "We have the responsibility, as well as under our system of law, the ability to be able to enforce our laws."

Murrill said investigators in the three states have also conducted controlled purchases of abortion drugs online, including by providing false information about the buyer or pregnancy.

The states are asking the Supreme Court to declare the shield laws unconstitutional and block officials in California, New York and Massachusetts from enforcing them.

Before reaching those arguments, however, the Supreme Court must first decide whether to allow the states' case to proceed.