Women harmed by abortion pill urge acting AG to settle abortion pill lawsuit

Fourteen women who say they experienced harm from the abortion pill regimen have sent a letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, urging him to stand with a Louisiana woman who has filed a lawsuit seeking to end the availability of abortion drugs by mail.

Key Takeaways:

• 14 women have sent a letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, urging him to settle with Rosalie Markezich in her lawsuit seeking to stop mail-order abortion pills.

• Markezich sued the FDA after her then-boyfriend forced her to take the abortion pill, killing her preborn child.

• The letter writers, who say they all have been harmed by abortion drugs, call on Blanche to protect women from the harm of mail-order abortion.

The Details:

The letter writers reference the case of Rosalie Markezich, who is suing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after her then-boyfriend ordered the abortion pill online and then coerced her into taking the drugs, forcing an abortion she did not want. The writers urge Blanche to "side with Rosalie Markezich and settle her legal case immediately so abortion drugs are no longer sent through the mail in ways that put women at risk."

"The Department of Justice must act now to protect women by listening to and standing with Rosalie Markezich, rather than fighting against her in litigation," the letter states.

The letter writers, who say they all have been harmed by abortion drugs, call on Blanche to protect women from the harm of mail-order abortion.

"The federal government should not defend policies that make it easier for men, abusers, traffickers, or anyone else to obtain abortion drugs in a woman’s name and pressure her to take them in isolation," they said.

The letter was sent to Blanche on July 8 by Tramelle Jones, Sara Huff, Elizabeth Henschel, Dora Rhode Esparza, Jannette Houston, Grace Cardoso, Abby Johnson, Kelly Lester, Erin Woods, Alani Harmon, Haile McAnally, Shanyce Thomas, McKenzie Kaupa-Thiesse, and Jessica Williams.

"We do not all share the same story, the same zip code, or the same season of life. But we are united in asking the Department of Justice to recognize the harm women have suffered and to act before more women are placed in similar danger," they stated.

The Backstory:

Rosalie Markezich discovered she was pregnant in October 2023, and was excited to welcome a new baby into the world. Her boyfriend at the time was not supportive. Without her knowledge, he ordered the abortion pill regimen through the mail, and then forced her to take the drugs, resulting in the loss of her preborn child. Markezich later sued the FDA for its policy allowing mail-order abortion.

The letter writers place the blame squarely on the FDA and its allowance of mail-order abortions, saying:

"We grieve with Rosalie because many of us recognize parts of our own stories in hers: the pressure, the confusion, the fear, the absence of real medical care, and the feeling that the system was designed to move drugs faster than it was designed to protect women. No woman should be forced, pressured, deceived, or abandoned into taking drugs that end her child’s life and place her own health at risk.

The FDA’s illegal abortion drug policy is responsible for this danger, and it is the same policy the Department is defending in court. This is not abstract. Rosalie herself says, 'If mail-order abortion wasn’t a thing, I’m 100% sure I would have my child…. I do not believe a doctor would have prescribed me the drugs if I told her I did not want them.'

These drugs were placed in her hands without an in-person medical visit, without meaningful screening for coercion, and without the protection of a medical professional who could have looked her in the eye and asked whether this was truly her choice. She has said the trauma still haunts her.

Live Action News has documented many instances in which women like Markezich were tricked, coerced, or forced into taking abortion drugs they didn't want, due to the Biden FDA's decision to relax standards and allow for widespread mail-order abortion pill availability.

The Bottom Line:

The women called on Blanche and the DOJ to protect women from further harm.

"Settling this case would send a clear message that women’s safety matters, that coercion is real, that state laws protecting women and unborn children deserve respect, and that the Department of Justice will not ignore the real-world consequences of weakened abortion-drug safeguards," they wrote.