Activists have long claimed that abortion is a decision best made between a woman and her doctor. When Rosalie Markezich’s boyfriend pressured her into taking abortion drugs that he mail-ordered behind her back, however, there was “no interaction” and certainly no decision-making between her and the California doctor who prescribed them.
“The doctor had no clue about my prior conditions or anything,” Markezich told The Federalist in a phone interview.
A woman’s medical history and her baby’s gestational age are both vital pieces of information that could indicate her increased risk of serious complications after taking abortion drugs. Already, one in 10 women who ingest mifepristone is said to suffer a serious adverse event such as hemorrhage or infection. Even the U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved Mifeprex label warns that a mother whose pregnancy is further along than the recommended 10 weeks or is located outside of her uterus, also known as ectopic, should not take mifepristone because her risk of complications is so high.
A lack of knowledge about Markezich’s health and stage of pregnancy, however, didn’t stop Dr. Remy Coeytaux from illegally circumventing Louisiana’s pro-life protections to give Markezich’s boyfriend the drugs he needed to accommodate his desire to end their pregnancy.
The Hurt
Markezich was young, in her early 20s, when she became pregnant and “not very fortunate in my village at the time.” Yet, something about being a mother excited her.
“When I first found out I was pregnant, I was so happy,” she said. Markezich paused, as if re-living the feeling, before she continued. “I went to share my joy with my boyfriend at the time, and the joy lived for about a week until he changed his mind. At that point, we could just not agree on what to do.”
In addition to feeling pressure to abort from her boyfriend, Markezich also faced doubts from friends who encouraged her to end the pregnancy.
“They kept telling me ‘You’re just not ready, you’re not financially stable,’” Markezich said. “I wish, if I could have gone back, I would have kept looking, instead of stopping looking for people to help.”
Her then-boyfriend, who allegedly has a criminal record, was so adamant that the couple would not have their child that he secretly ordered the life-ending drugs online.
“I was completely unaware. I didn’t even know that that was a thing that you could do. I wasn’t aware that there were pills for abortion,” Markezich admitted. She also said she was “completely unaware” of the physical risks associated with mifepristone.
Her obliviousness to the existence and dangers of the abortion pill also meant she was not aware of the lifesaving effects of abortion pill reversal, an emergency dose of intramuscular or oral progesterone that can sometimes protect an unborn baby and his mother from the abortive effects of mifepristone. So, even though the Louisiana resident had plans to protect her pregnancy by regurgitating the abortion drug after taking it under duress (the lawsuit alleges her boyfriend “became angry and shouted at her”), Markezich ultimately lost her baby.
“I hated myself. I hated everybody around me. I hated everything that I did solely because my child is not with me. I felt that if there was no point anymore without him,” she said.
Markezich’s experience is not uncommon. A majority of abortions, 70 percent, are believed to be unwanted, coerced, or inconsistent with the mother’s values and desires. Even those abortions that aren’t forced leave women with physical, mental, and emotional scars.
Not only did Markezich suffer some of that significant mental and emotional pain while grieving her child, but she also endured physical fallout. She experienced “heavy bleeding” and “painful cramps” that lasted more than a week. Markezich also complained of “very painful period cramps” for more than a year after that.
“I probably should have gone in,” Markezich admitted, referring to seeking follow-up medical care, “but I did not, as my situation was very hard on me. Going to the doctor and saying the things out loud would have made it even more real, and I was not ready for that.”
Even worse than the physical side effects she experienced, however, was the battle raging inside her heart and mind.
“The emotional and mental pain were the worst out of the three pains,” Markezich said. “I could remember wishing for more physical pain because the mental and emotional was just turmoil.”
Unsure of her future without her baby, the young woman turned to self-harm.
“I would beg for the physical pain. I would wish that I could just have my insides torn up instead of feeling the way that I did,” Markezich recalled. “I did start cutting myself around then just to feel that physical pain, to make it hurt just a little bit less than the mental and emotional turmoil.”
The Healing
It took Markezich more than a month to walk away from the boyfriend who ordered the abortion drugs. His role in the death of her baby, however, proved to be a “breaking point.”
“I said ‘I’m not a violent person. I can’t have this vendetta. I have to do something better.’ And I broke it off right then and there,” Markezich said. “I texted, ‘We’re done. I cannot look at you. I cannot be in your house any longer.’”
Markezich had countless bad days and even worse ones. It wasn’t until she put down the blade and picked up the phone that the possibility of a life and identity outside of her loss bloomed.
“The day that I was super mad, angry at the world, I had called around to some places and eventually got connected with Cynthia Collins,” Markezich recalled.
Cynthia Collins is a Louisiana-based hope and life advocate and founder of outreach organizations SpeakHope.net and LifeFreedomAlliance.org. As a “woman hurt by abortion,” Collins believes she is in a unique and understanding position to minister to women like Markezich.
“To have someone like me or those who are offering a safe place to come throughout the pregnancy, but also at any point — even after a chemical abortion or a surgical abortion, it’s almost like we’re a lighthouse in the community. That woman is able to go ahead and find hope and healing and, in some cases, justice, if that’s what her desire is. But it’s hope and healing, spiritual and body,” Collins told The Federalist in a phone interview.
And healing from what Collins called a “deep trauma,” is exactly what Markezich is experiencing to this day.
“[Collins] has been a blessing,” Markezich said. “She’s prayed with me, brought me in, filled me up with the Lord. Just been there. Called, listened, just to tell me to have a nice day. She was there.”
The Justice
It’s under the newfound confidence Markezich credited Collins with stoking that she began sharing her story. Just two years after she lost her baby, Markezich became a plantiff, alongside the state of Louisiana, in a lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services and FDA for their “mail-order abortion scheme.” Her complaint joins the ranks of several other women who filed lawsuits after they were allegedly poisoned with abortion drugs by their sexual partners.
“Rosalie was hurt by government agencies who turned a blind eye to the risks that mail-order abortion drugs pose to women like her,” the lawsuit, filed in early October, claims.
Louisiana has an arrest warrant out for the out-of-state doctor who reportedly prescribed the drugs used to end Markezich’s unborn baby’s life. But Markezich’s “main point of concern” is that the FDA, at the direction of President Joe Biden, no longer requires an in-person doctor visit for prescribers to dispense mifepristone.
Gabriella McIntyre, legal counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom’s Center for Life and Markezich’s lawyer, noted that this move, which has yet to be reversed by the Trump administration, puts countless women and babies at risk.
“We’re looking to hold the FDA accountable for its egregious disregard for women by making these drugs available by mail and we’re very hopeful that women like Rosalie will be able to then start sharing their stories, to inform the public about what they have gone through, so that other women will not have to suffer the same trauma,” McIntyre told The Federalist.
A new McLaughlin and Associates survey found that 71 percent of likely voters approve of the FDA reinstating the in-person doctor visit once required to obtain an abortion drug prescription. Three-in-five voters even went so far as to agree that “chemical abortions are far more dangerous than advertised, and women deserve a doctor’s care to prevent serious health complications like hemorrhaging, bleeding, or infections.”
Approximately seven in 10 of those surveyed, after agreeing that “chemical abortion drugs are used by sexual abusers to cover up rape, exploitation and sex-trafficking,” said doctors should also be required to “screen for and report signs of coercion or abuse” before prescribing mifepristone.
Until the FDA makes that happen, Markezich said she will keep fighting for healing and justice for herself and other women who have suffered as a result of the abortion pill.
“When I first started, my situation was not good in any means. I’ve heard some stories of other women who have had it much worse and who have not had a chance to have the voice as I do. So what I think motivates me is having a voice for the other women that may not have that voice right now,” Markezich said.
To the women and girls who find themselves in sensitive situations like the one she survived, Markezich says: “Keep looking for people to help you.”
“They are out there. You’ve just got to look for them,” she said.
In the meantime, Markezich will continue her healing journey, which includes carrying the memory of her baby “wherever I go.”
“The thought never really goes away. It just kind of stays there with whatever I do,” she concluded.
Jordan Boyd is a staff writer at The Federalist and producer of The Federalist Radio Hour. Her work has also been featured in The Daily Wire, Fox News, and RealClearPolitics. Jordan graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow her on X @jordanboydtx.
