The first private lawsuit filed under Texas' HB 7 targets California physician Dr. Remy Coeytaux, accused of mailing abortion medication to a Texas patient. Plaintiff Jerry Rodriguez amended his federal complaint in Galveston seeking injunctions and at least $100,000 per alleged violation. The case could test California's shield law and the broader legality of cross-border enforcement over mifepristone, which is central to multiple interstate legal battles.
California Doctor Becomes First Target Of Private Lawsuit Under Texas' New Abortion-Drug Ban
A patient prepares to take Mifepristone, the first medication in a medical abortion, at Alamo Women's Clinic in Carbondale, Illinois, U.S., April 20, 2023. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Feb. 2 — A Texas resident has filed what appears to be the first private enforcement action under Texas' new law, HB 7, accusing a California physician of prescribing and mailing abortion medication to a patient in Texas. The amended federal complaint, filed in Galveston, seeks to block Dr. Remy Coeytaux from sending abortion drugs to people in Texas and requests at least $100,000 in penalties for each alleged violation.
Case Background
Plaintiff Jerry Rodriguez amended a suit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, alleging that Coeytaux prescribed abortion pills to Rodriguez's partner in violation of Texas law. Rodriguez originally brought a wrongful-death claim last year; the amended complaint adds statutory claims under HB 7, which went into effect in December and creates a private right of action allowing state residents to sue providers who prescribe, transport, mail or deliver abortion-inducing drugs into Texas.
Legal Stakes
This case sits at the intersection of two larger legal fights: efforts by Republican-led states to curtail access to the abortion pill mifepristone after the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 rulings, and state 'shield' laws enacted by California and other Democratic-led states to protect clinicians who provide cross-border care. Mifepristone is used in roughly 60% of U.S. abortions and has been the subject of multiple lawsuits and regulatory challenges nationwide.
Interstate Enforcement And Related Actions
Coeytaux is also the subject of an indictment in Louisiana alleging unlawful prescriptions of mifepristone. California Governor Gavin Newsom has said California will not extradite Coeytaux to Louisiana. Separately, the Texas attorney general's office recently sued a nurse practitioner in Delaware under HB 7 and previously obtained a $100,000 judgment against a New York doctor — a judgment Texas is attempting to enforce despite New York's shield law.
Representatives
Rodriguez is represented by Jonathan Mitchell, a former Texas solicitor general who is widely reported to have helped draft Texas' 2021 SB 8, which pioneered a private enforcement mechanism for abortion restrictions. Coeytaux is represented by the Center for Reproductive Rights, which said this is the first private HB 7 case. Nancy Northup, the group's president and CEO, said,
'Texas officials have already been going after doctors outside their borders, and now they've incentivized private citizens to do their bidding.'
What Comes Next
The case, captioned Rodriguez v. Coeytaux (S.D. Tex. No. 3:25-cv-00225), could test the reach of Texas' private-enforcement model and California's shield law. Key questions include whether an out-of-state private plaintiff can obtain injunctions and monetary penalties under HB 7 and how courts will weigh state shield laws that protect clinicians from out-of-state enforcement.
(Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York.)
Help us improve.
