Gavin Newsom refused to hand over a California doctor charged with mailing abortion pills to Louisiana.
Now Newsom has vetoed a bill that would have locked that protection in for every governor after him.
And fellow Democrats are furious about what could happen the day he leaves office.
Gavin Newsom Vetoed AB 2164 to Protect the Next Governor's Power
On September 20, Newsom vetoed Assembly Bill 2164, which supporters called the Care Without Fear Act.
The bill, written by Democratic Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, would have barred future California governors from honoring extradition requests for people charged in other states over abortions or gender transition procedures.
It sailed through the Assembly 57-14 and the Senate 30-10.
Newsom killed it anyway.
"Extradition is an exclusively executive function," he wrote in his veto message.
"When discretionary, that discretion is appropriately placed with the governor."
He made it clear he was protecting the power of whoever comes next.
"I am troubled by the precedent that would be set if an outgoing administration agreed with the Legislature to erode the executive authority of an incoming governor based on their shared policy preferences," Newsom wrote.
Pro-Abortion Groups Slammed Newsom's Abortion Shield Law Veto
The pro-abortion left didn't take it well.
Mini Timmaraju, president and CEO of Reproductive Freedom for All, said California "cannot leave abortion providers one election away from extradition."
The Guttmacher Institute's Kimya Forouzan knocked the veto for failing to lock in protection for doctors who mail abortion pills across state lines.
Online, activist Cheyenne Hunt called it a "red flag" and noted that 18 other states have passed similar laws.
This is the same Newsom who turned California into an abortion destination.
Now the activists he courted are treating him like a traitor – right as he polls second in the early 2028 Democratic presidential race, behind Kamala Harris.
Newsom Blocked Louisiana's Extradition of an Abortion Pill Doctor
The fight traces back to Dr. Rémy Coeytaux of Sonoma County.
A grand jury in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, indicted him on felony charges of criminal abortion by means of abortion-inducing drugs.
Prosecutors say he mailed abortion pills to Louisiana in 2023 without any in-person exam by a Louisiana-licensed doctor.
The woman who took those pills was Rosalie Markezich.
She smiled when she saw the positive pregnancy test in October 2023.
"I did not want to have an abortion," she said.
The pills were ordered online and shipped to her home, and she says her boyfriend pressured her to take them in his car.
"I was scared, and I felt pressured to take the pills. So I did," Markezich said.
She bled heavily for about a week and has described lasting trauma from the chemical abortion.
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill and Gov. Jeff Landry wanted Coeytaux sent to Louisiana to face trial.
In January, Newsom said no, leaning on a 2022 executive order he signed that tells California to decline extradition requests for abortion providers.
"California protects patients and their doctors," Newsom said.
"We will not be complicit in efforts to strip away their privacy, autonomy, or dignity."
Murrill called it "appalling to see the California Governor and Attorney General openly admitting that they will protect an individual" from accountability.
She compared the pill-mailing operation to drug dealing.
Newsom gets to choose because of a loophole in how extradition works.
The Constitution requires states to hand over a person charged with a crime "who shall flee from Justice" – but doctors who mail pills from California never set foot in Louisiana, so they never technically fled.
Steve Hilton or Xavier Becerra Will Decide the Next Abortion Extradition Fight
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul pulled the same move in February 2025, refusing to send Dr. Margaret Carpenter to Louisiana to face charges for mailing abortion pills.
"We will not comply with an extradition request," Hochul said.
Murrill fired back that state officials "are not at liberty to ignore interstate compacts and laws regarding extradition."
Blue-state governors have been hiding abortion pill doctors from the law for more than a year.
But the abortion lobby's panic over this veto gives the game away.
Their protection from extradition isn't guaranteed by California law.
It rests on a governor's executive order – and Newsom's term ends in January 2027.
In November, Californians choose between Democrat Xavier Becerra, Joe Biden's former health secretary, and Republican Steve Hilton, the former Fox News host.
Because of Newsom's veto, whichever one wins will decide the next extradition request from Louisiana.
Liz Murrill isn't going anywhere, and neither is that indictment.
Rosalie Markezich is still living with what those pills did to her.
The doctors who mail abortion pills into pro-life states just learned their shield from extradition is only as strong as the next governor.
Sources:
- Josh Koehn, "Gavin Newsom Faces Furious Backlash From Dems Over Abortion Veto," New York Post, September 25, 2026.
- Cassy Cooke, "SHOCK: Gavin Newsom Vetoes Abortion Bill in California," Live Action News, September 23, 2026.
- "Newsom Vetoes California Abortion Bill Amid 2028 Speculation," The Christian Post, September 25, 2026.
- Deon Guillory, "Murrill, Newsom Clash Over Extradition of Doctor Accused of Mailing Abortion Pills," WAFB, January 14, 2026.
- "Rosalie Markezich's Story," Alliance Defending Freedom, November 5, 2025.
- "Who Are the 2026 California Governor Candidates?" CalMatters, 2026.
- U.S. Constitution, Article IV, Section 2.
- Deirdre Heavey, "Doctor Who Prescribed Abortion Pill Won't Be Extradited to Louisiana as NY Gov Hochul Refuses Request," Fox News, February 13, 2025.
