Legal/Law/Criminal Justice and Reform

Women Allegedly Coerced Into Abortion Intervenes In Major Case Challenging Mail-Order Pill

Robin Marty/Creative Commons/Flickr

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,” the Friday filing asking the court to allow both Louisiana and Markezich to intervene states. “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.” (RELATED: Abortion Coercion Concerns Surrounding Mail-Order Pill Mount With New Reports)

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, Attorney General Liz 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,” the filing states, 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,” the filing continued. “Some even omit the names of the drug recipients, emboldening abusers who intend to coerce or trick women—and washing away inculpatory evidence.”

There have been at least four alleged incidents of coerced abortions using the pill this year alone, including cases in Texas, Illinois and Louisiana. Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law Wednesday allowing citizens to sue providers who ship abortion pills into the state.

“Rosalie is bravely representing many women who are victimized by the illegal, immoral, and unethical conduct of these drug dealers,” Murrill told the DCNF. “It is my hope and prayer that the Trump Administration will revoke these bought and paid for Biden Administration rules which are contributing to these harms for women.”

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.

“Had the FDA required an in-person visit with a doctor before dispensing the drugs, my boyfriend would never been able to obtain the drugs that he made me take,” Markezich wrote in a declaration. “I also would have told the doctor that I did not want to take them. And I would have told the doctor that I wanted to keep my baby. I do not believe a doctor would have prescribed me the drugs if I told her I did not want them.”