BATON ROUGE, Louisiana – Two abortion-inducing drugs could soon be reclassified as controlled dangerous substances in Louisiana under a first-of-its-kind bill that received final legislative approval Thursday and is expected to be signed into law by the governor.
Proponents of reclassifying mifepristone and misoprostol, commonly known as “abortion pills,” say it would protect pregnant women from forced abortions. However, several doctors said this will make it more difficult for them to prescribe the medications they use for other important reproductive health care needs and could delay treatment.
The bill’s passage comes as both abortion rights advocates and abortion opponents await a final ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court on an effort to restrict access to mifepristone. The justices appeared unwilling to limit access to the drug on the day they heard arguments.
The push from the GOP-dominated Legislature to reschedule mifepristone and misoprostol could possibly open the door to other Republican states with abortion bans seeking tighter restrictions on the drugs. Louisiana currently has a near-total abortion ban, applying to both surgical and medical abortions.
Current Louisiana law already requires a prescription for both medications and makes it a crime to use them to induce an abortion in most cases. The bill would make the pills more difficult to obtain by placing them on the Schedule IV drug list under the state’s Uniform Controlled Hazardous Substances Act.
The classification would require doctors to have a specific license to prescribe the medicines, which would be stored in certain facilities that, in some cases, could end up located far from rural clinics. Knowingly possessing the drugs without a valid prescription would attract punishment including heavy fines and prison time.
More than 200 doctors in the state signed a letter to lawmakers warning that this could produce a “barrier to physicians’ ease in prescribing appropriate treatment” and cause unnecessary fear and confusion among patients and doctors. Doctors warn that any delay in obtaining medications could lead to worse outcomes in a state that has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country.
“This goes too far. We have not adequately vetted this with the healthcare community and I believe this will cause even more harm in the future,” said State Senator Royce Duplessis, a Democrat who opposes the measure. “There’s a reason we rank last in terms of maternal health outcomes, and this is why.”
Supporters say people would be prevented from illegally using the pills, although the bill’s language appears to create protections for pregnant women who obtain the medication without a prescription for their own use.
The reclassification of the two drugs in Louisiana is an amendment to a bill originating in the Senate that would create the crime of “criminal abortion coerced through fraud.” The sister of Republican State Senator Thomas Pressly, the bill’s author, shared her own story of her husband giving her abortion-inducing medications without her knowledge or consent.
“The purpose of bringing this legislation in is certainly not to prevent these medications from being used for legitimate health care purposes,” said Senator Pressley. “I’m simply trying to establish safeguards and protective barriers to prevent bad actors from obtaining these medicines.”
The Senate voted 29-7, largely along party lines, to approve the legislation. In the 39-person Senate there are only five women, all of whom voted in favor of the project.
In addition to inducing miscarriages, mifepristone and misoprostol have other common uses, such as treating miscarriages, inducing labor, and stopping bleeding.
Mifepristone was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2000 after federal regulators found it safe and effective for terminating early pregnancies. It is used in combination with misoprostol, which the FDA has approved separately to treat stomach ulcers.
Drugs are not classified as federally controlled substances because regulators do not consider them to pose a significant risk of misuse. The federal Controlled Substances Act restricts the use and distribution of prescription medications such as opioids, amphetamines, sleeping aids, and other drugs that pose a risk of addiction and overdose.
Abortion opponents and conservative Republicans, both inside and outside the state, applauded the Louisiana bill. On the other hand, the measure was heavily criticized by Democrats, including Vice President Kamala Harris, who in a social media post described it as “absolutely unfair”.
The Louisiana legislation now heads to conservative Republican Gov. Jeff Landry’s desk. The governor, who was supported by former President Donald Trump during last year’s gubernatorial election, indicated his support for the measure, commenting in a recent X post: “You know you’re doing something right when @KamalaHarris criticizes it.”
Landry’s office did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
A recent survey found that thousands of women in states with abortion bans or restrictions are receiving abortion pills in the mail from states that have laws protecting prescribers. The research did not specify how many of those cases occurred in Louisiana.
Louisiana has a near-total abortion ban, which applies to both medical and surgical abortions. The only exceptions to the prohibition are if there is a substantial risk of death or disability for the mother if she continues the pregnancy or in the case of “medically futile” pregnancies, when the fetus has a fatal abnormality.
Currently, 14 states impose bans on abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with limited exceptions.
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