What is Forced Abortion?

Forced abortion occurs when a woman is pressured, deceived, or forced to end her pregnancy against her will. This includes drugging a woman without her knowledge, threats, manipulation, or leveraging access to abortion pills.

Louisiana law now provides new protections: Senator Thomas Pressly’s Abortion by Fraud Criminalization Act (SB 276, now Act 246) targets those who obtain or use abortion pills to harm women, minors, and unborn children. See highlights in Louisiana law and policy below.

**If you or someone you love needs help right now: call 9-1-1 for emergencies, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233, reach out to a local pregnancy help center, or visit AbortionImpact.com to confidentially share your experience or seek support regarding abortion pill harm.

Survivor stories

These accounts illustrate the reality of force and fraud, the danger of mail-order abortion pills, and why Louisiana strengthened the law to protect survivors. Some names are used with permission, others are summarized to protect privacy.

Rosalie’s Story

In 2023, Rosalie Markezich, a Louisiana woman, became pregnant and wanted to keep her baby. Her boyfriend, however, had other plans. Using her email address and mailing information without her consent, he ordered abortion pills from a California-based doctor, Dr. Remy Coeytaux, who mailed the drugs to Louisiana without ever speaking with Rosalie.

“I told him I do not want to get rid of my baby.”
“He ordered pills to my house.”
“I kept standing my ground. I want to keep it.”
“He snapped, raised his voice. I was scared and I felt pressure to take the pills. So I did, and my plan was to immediately go and throw them up. I started freaking out, having a panic attack. Arms and legs all locked up.”
“The blood started coming, and at that moment I knew the chances were not in my favor. I just laid there, bleeding, crying.”

Rosalie later said that “the trauma of my chemical abortion still haunts me.” She believes it never would have happened if the FDA had not allowed abortion pills to be prescribed through telehealth and mailed without an in-person medical consultation.

Louisiana authorities issued an arrest warrant for Dr. Coeytaux, who remains under investigation for mailing abortion pills across state lines in violation of Louisiana law.  Unfortunately “shield laws” in states like California protect abortion dealers from facing justice by states such as Louisiana and Texas that protect mothers and babies by prohibiting abortion.

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said, “Rosalie is bravely representing many women who are victimized by the illegal, immoral, and unethical conduct of these drug dealers.”

Rosalie’s case also ties into Louisiana’s participation in a federal lawsuit seeking to restore in-person medical requirements for abortion drugs. She stated in her declaration:

“Had the FDA required an in-person visit with a doctor before dispensing the drugs, my boyfriend would never have been able to obtain the drugs that he made me take. 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.”

Dr. Coeytaux has been the subject of other legal actions as well, including a Texas lawsuit alleging that he mailed abortion drugs to a woman whose estranged husband placed the order.

Rosalie’s courage and her willingness to share her experience have brought national attention to the real-life harms caused by coercion and telemedicine abortion. Her story represents countless women whose partners or abusers weaponize abortion drugs against them.

Catherine’s Story

In 2022, Catherine Herring, the sister of Louisiana Senator Thomas Pressly, was repeatedly poisoned by her husband, a Texas attorney, who secretly slipped abortion-inducing drugs into her drinks after learning she was pregnant. He was sentenced to only 180 days in jail after pleading guilty.

“I do not believe that 180 days is justice for attempting to kill your child seven separate times,” Catherine told the court.

Catherine’s daughter survived but was born prematurely and now faces developmental delays, attending therapy multiple times each week. Her courage to speak publicly about her ordeal inspired the drafting of Act 246, ensuring Louisiana law now holds predators accountable for using abortion drugs as weapons.

More Stories…

In April 2024, a Louisiana minor was coerced by her mother into taking abortion pills that had been illegally prescribed and mailed by New York physician Dr. Margaret Carpenter. According to reports and court filings, the pills were sent to the family’s home in West Baton Rouge Parish, and the girl later experienced severe complications that required emergency medical care. She called 911 and was transported to a nearby hospital.

In October 2024, multiple news outlets reported that a Louisiana grand jury indicted Dr. Carpenter, her abortion business, and the minor’s mother for their roles in the incident. Prosecutors say Dr. Carpenter, who is not licensed to practice in Louisiana, prescribed and mailed the abortion-inducing drugs without conducting any medical examination or interview with the girl. The District Attorney of West Baton Rouge Parish, Tony Clayton, told The Advocate that the minor had planned a gender-reveal party and did not want an abortion.

In October 2024, Justin Banta, a 38-year-old man from Parker County, Texas, was arrested after drugging his pregnant girlfriend with abortion-inducing drugs without her consent.

The woman had been clear she wanted to keep her baby after learning she was approximately six weeks pregnant and hearing the heartbeat at a sonogram appointment. Despite her wishes, Banta met her later that day at a coffee shop, where security footage showed him pouring a white substance from a small bag into her drink.

The woman drank it, unaware it contained the abortion drugs mifepristone and misoprostol (marketed together as “Plan C”). The next morning, she began suffering from severe bleeding, fatigue, and pain. Within days, she lost her unborn child.

An FBI lab confirmed that the cookies Banta had given her also contained the same abortion drugs. Banta admitted to ordering the pills online and pressuring the woman to abort but denied spiking her drink. 

These tragic cases echo similar patterns of coercion and abuse seen in Louisiana. It underscores the need for laws that protect both women and unborn children from abusers who would poison them using illegally obtained abortion pills. It also exposes states that would rather protect drug traffickers that enable this behavior than confront the reality of the harm their abortion agenda advances.

Reckless Abortion Networks Enable Abusers

Mail-order abortion activists continue to distribute abortion drugs with little to no medical oversight, openly disregarding state and federal laws designed to protect women.

Dr. Linda Prine, a New York abortion-pill prescriber for Aid Access, admitted that she regularly sends thousands of abortion pills each month into states where abortion is illegal. When women report complications, she tells them they “almost certainly don’t need to go to the emergency room” and reassures them, “Your uterus knows what to do.” Her comments reveal a reckless disregard for women’s health, as heavy bleeding and infection can quickly become life-threatening. Another physician, interviewed by The Washington Post, agreed that such advice is dangerously misleading, warning that without prompt care, bleeding and infection can rapidly become fatal for women taking abortion pills without supervision.

These groups also use deceptive practices to conceal their operations. Providers like Her Safe Harbor and Abuzz give false billing codes for urinary tract infections and instruct women not to tell emergency room doctors they have taken abortion pills, encouraging them instead to say they are having a miscarriage. Such tactics strip women of informed medical care and hinder emergency response.

Together, these actions show a pattern of dangerous disregard by abortion activists and telemedicine facilitators who distribute powerful drugs without proper medical screening or follow-up, leaving women and minors vulnerable to coercion, trauma, and medical emergencies.