By Daniel Wiessner
Feb 2 (Reuters) - A Texas man has accused a California doctor of prescribing abortion pills to his partner in violation of state law, in what appears to be the first test of a Texas law that took effect in December allowing private citizens to sue abortion providers on behalf of the state.
The man, Jerry Rodriguez, filed an amended lawsuit in Galveston, Texas, federal court on Sunday seeking to block the doctor, Remy Coeytaux, from continuing to allegedly mail abortion drugs to patients
in Texas.
The case represents another front in a nationwide legal battle over the abortion drug mifepristone, whose use Republican-led states are working to curtail after the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 opened the door for states to ban abortion. Mifepristone is used in 60% of U.S. abortions.
It could also test California's so-called "shield law" protecting healthcare providers against out-of-state investigations and prosecutions. More than a dozen other Democratic-led states have adopted similar laws.
Coeytaux has been indicted in Louisiana for allegedly prescribing mifepristone to women there. California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, said last month that his state would not extradite Coeytaux to Louisiana.
Rodriguez had sued Coeytaux last year for wrongful death of the fetus, claiming his partner had used abortion drugs prescribed by the doctor against his wishes. The amended complaint adds claims under a Texas law that took effect in December known as HB 7, which bans the prescribing, transporting, mailing and delivery of abortion-inducing drugs and allows state residents to sue for violations.
Wrongful death cases against healthcare providers are complex and often difficult to win, requiring proof of negligence or deviation from accepted standards of medical care and that a provider directly caused a death. HB 7 only requires proof that a defendant engaged in conduct prohibited by the law.
Rodriguez said he would seek to recover at least $100,000 in penalties from Coeytaux for each established violation of the law.
Rodriguez is represented by Jonathan Mitchell, a former Texas solicitor general who reportedly crafted the state's 2021 law known as SB 8 that prohibits aiding or abetting abortion, including a novel provision allowing private citizens to sue for violations. HB 7's private right of action is based on the 2021 law but allows for up to 10 times the monetary penalties.
Mitchell did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
Coeytaux is represented by the Center for Reproductive Rights, which said in a statement that the case is the first under HB 7 by a private litigant.
“Texas officials have already been going after doctors outside their borders, and now they've incentivized private citizens to do their bidding," said Nancy Northup, the group's president and CEO.
The office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, filed a lawsuit last week against a nurse practitioner in Delaware for allegedly violating HB 7.
Paxton's office last year won a $100,000 judgment against a New York doctor accused of prescribing abortion pills in violation of the 2021 abortion ban, and is now trying to enforce it in New York. Texas is appealing a ruling by a judge that dismissed the case, citing New York's shield law.
The case is Rodriguez v. Coeytaux, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, No. 3:25-cv-00225.
For Rodriguez: Jonathan Mitchell
For Coeytaux: The Center for Reproductive Rights
Read more:
Texas sues Delaware nurse practitioner to test abortion 'shield law'
US abortion pill access under fire: Lawsuits and regulatory battles to watch in 2026
New York law seeks to shield doctors who provide abortion pills by mail
Texas moves to enforce judgment against New York doctor over abortion pills
(Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York)
