The Louisiana House voted Tuesday to criminalize the possession of mifepristone and misoprostol without a prescription. Both drugs are used to induce a medical abortion.
The unprecedented effort would be the first instance of a state declaring abortion drugs controlled substances. It was approved by a vote of 64 votes in favor and 29 against.
The measure now goes back to the state Senate for a concurrent vote and would then go to Gov. Jeff Landry (R), who is expected to sign it.
The measure was added as an amendment to legislation sponsored by State Senator Thomas Pressly (R), which created the crime of “criminally coerced abortion through deception” – when someone knowingly gives abortion pills to a pregnant woman without her knowledge or consent.
The measure would add the drugs to Louisiana’s Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Act, which regulates drugs that can be highly addictive, such as opioids, ephedrine and antidepressants.
It is illegal to mail abortion pills in Louisiana, but protection laws in blue states have allowed doctors to thwart state bans and continue to prescribe and ship them through online telehealth.
Louisiana legislation could prevent this. Abortion rights advocates have said the legislation will create a chilling effect and make it more difficult for women to access legitimately safe medicines.
To prescribe controlled substances, state doctors need a special license, and the state tracks the patient, doctor and pharmacy involved in each prescription.
The amendment would criminalize possession for anyone who does not have a prescription or is a licensed supplier and would subject offenders to up to five years in prison. It would exempt pregnant women who possessed the pills “for their own use” from prosecution, but anyone who helped them obtain the pills would be at risk, even if they never had an abortion.
Louisiana already bans surgical and medical abortions except to save a patient’s life or because the pregnancy is “medically futile.”
Misoprostol has especially broad applications in reproductive health, including in inducing labor, softening the cervix during surgical procedures, and in the medical treatment of miscarriage. It is also on the World Health Organization’s Model List of Essential Medicines.
Lauren Irwin contributed reporting
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
