The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Texas, argues that physician Remy Coeytaux is liable for “wrongful death” because he allegedly mailed abortion pills to the woman’s ex-husband for her to use. Jezebel is not naming the woman, who is reportedly still married to her estranged husband; you can read a redacted version of the complaint here. Mitchell also argues in the suit that, by mailing abortion pills, the doctor violated the dormant Comstock Act of 1873.
“These anti-abortion folks are really upset that all these pills are being sent to their states, and they’re doing whatever they can to try to stop it,” said Jill Wieber Lens, a professor at University of Iowa College of Law and an expert in reproductive rights law. A Society of Family Planning report found that, by the end of 2024, abortion providers were sending an average of 12,000 sets of pills per month to states with bans. They’re doing that under so-called “shield laws” that protect physicians from civil or criminal actions initiated by other states.
Like the other suits, this complaint repeatedly refers to abortion as “murder.” Rodriguez claims in the suit that his girlfriend used abortion pills on two occasions since they started dating in June 2024. He says he fathered both pregnancies and alleges that his girlfriend’s estranged ex purchased the medications from Coeytaux, who mailed them to Galveston County, Texas, for her to use.
Rodriguez said the woman is pregnant for a third time and asks the court to bar Coeytaux from mailing abortion pills to anyone. However, even if a judge agreed, more providers in California, or other states, could prescribe the pills. The suit is a proposed class action on behalf of “all current and future fathers of unborn children in the United States.” Lens said this last part is probably due to a recent Supreme Court ruling limiting nationwide injunctions and pushing litigants toward class actions.
The complaint also argues that, by previously mailing the pills, Coeytaux didn’t just violate multiple Texas laws, but that he also violated the Comstock Act, a 19th-century anti-vice law that abortion opponents are trying to resurrect to ban abortion pills. Mitchell is a top proponent of this scheme. Rodriguez seeks at least $75,000 in damages against Coeytaux for wrongful death. Lens said Mitchell cites Comstock to support the wrongful death claim; he’s arguing that it’s another reason the doctor was negligent. But “it’s also a sneaky way to sort of validate” the law in federal court if the judge agrees, she said.
Still, Mitchell isn’t asking the judge to revive Comstock nationwide. But he is asking a judge to block Coeytaux from distributing abortion pills in the future. If the judge agreed to do so, it would be a loss for shield laws. (Coeytaux identified himself in a 2024 interview with NBC News as a representative of telemedicine service A Safe Choice, which says its doctors are licensed in California and operate under the state’s shield law.)
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is currently suing a New York doctor in state court for allegedly mailing pills to a Texas woman—and a county clerk in New York keeps rejecting Paxton’s requests for the doctor to pay a fine and stop shipping the medications, with the clerk citing the state’s shield law. This new wrongful death lawsuit, filed in federal court and by a male sex partner, could be part of a multi-front attack on shield laws, Lens said. California would presumably refuse to enforce any judgement against Coeytaux, and then either Mitchell or Paxton could sue the state, a battle that would likely reach the Supreme Court.
In the meantime, scaring people is the point. “I think so much of this is about the chilling effect, as opposed to actually winning this lawsuit,” Lens said. “This might scare other doctors in shield states from wanting to continue what they’re doing.” Plus, there’s the threat of abortion seekers being identified: The complaint names both Rodriguez’s girlfriend and her mother.
Molly Duane, a senior attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights, told Jezebel last year that anti-abortion activists like Mitchell are “using fearmongering and misinformation and terror” to try to stop people from having abortions.
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