The Republican-controlled Louisiana state senate has passed a bill to ban possession of abortion pills.
The bill designates the two drugs, mifepristone and misoprostol, used to abort fetuses as "dangerous controlled substances."
The new legislation will add abortion pills to Louisiana’s Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Law, which also regulates opioids, ephedrine, and antidepressants. The drugs will be labeled as Schedule IV, meaning that only licensed providers or people with a prescription can have them.
Anyone in violation could be subject to up to five years in prison and thousands of dollars in fines.
Pregnant women in possession of the pills for "her own consumption" would be exempt from prosecution, but those who helped her to obtain them would be liable.
The Hill reports:The amendment would also seemingly make it illegal for a woman to have the pills on hand even if she isn’t pregnant and imminently planning to take them, a practice known as “advance provision” that’s become increasingly popular in states with abortion bans.
Louisiana already bans surgical and medication abortions except to save a patient’s life or because a pregnancy is “medically futile.” Lawmakers last week rejected a bill that would have added exceptions for cases of rape and incest.
Over 200 Louisiana doctors opposed the legislation before it passed the Senate.
In an open letter, the doctors wrote, “Neither mifepristone nor misoprostol have been shown to have any potential for abuse, dependence, public health risk, nor high rates of adverse side effects.”
“Adding a safe, medically indicated drug for miscarriage management … to a Controlled Substance Schedule creates the false perception that these are dangerous drugs that require additional regulation,” the letter continued.
Sen. Thomas Pressly, a Republican who sponsored the bill, said the drugs are being “weaponized and are a risk to the public health.”
“I recognize that there are legitimate medical uses other than elective abortion for these drugs. Louisiana law is clear that if abortion-inducing drugs are used for purposes other than elective abortion, they are legal for use. The medical community is well-versed with using controlled substances in the course of their medical practice,” Pressly said.
Pressly's sister, Catherine Herring, spoke during a senate hearing last month about how her ex-husband put an abortion pill in her drink against her will in 2022. Doctors were able to stop the abortion, but the baby was born premature and with developmental issues.
The Louisiana House will be voting on the bill sometime before June 3.
