Louisiana House Passes Bill to Make Abortion Drugs Controlled Substances

A bill to reclassify two abortion-inducing drugs as “controlled dangerous substances” passed the Louisiana House on May 21 over the objections of Democrats.

The bill aims to criminalize possession of the drugs mifepristone and misoprostol without a valid prescription. While both are commonly used to induce abortion—which is almost entirely outlawed in Louisiana—misoprostol is also used for other purposes, such as miscarriage care and to prevent stomach ulcers in certain patients.

Those with a prescription would still be able to legally obtain and possess the drugs. But Democrats voiced concerns that the new law could result in delays in treatment for women suffering complications from miscarriages in a state with one of the highest maternal mortality rates.

“These medications touch on maternal health, which, as we’ve all discussed for several years now, is really bad in Louisiana,” Democrat state Rep. Mandie Landry said prior to the vote.

The representative said she had been inundated by calls and emails from doctors who feared negative outcomes for their patients.

But Republican state Rep. Julie Emerson said the bill would only prevent those with the intent to coerce women into having an abortion from obtaining the drug.

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“What this bill is going to do is it’s going to make sure that our laws can hold accountable those individuals who are using deception to harm women and unborn children,” Ms. Emerson said, noting that the matter was personal to the bill’s sponsor, state Sen. Thomas Pressly.

Mr. Pressly’s sister, Catherine Herring, has openly shared her story of being unknowingly slipped an abortion pill by her then-husband in an attempt to kill their unborn child.

“He attempted to poison her drink seven times,” Ms. Emerson said. “Thankfully, with the help of the abortion pill reversal regimens, Sen. Pressly’s niece is alive today. But she was delivered 10 weeks early and attends therapy multiple times a week.”

Ms. Herring’s husband was sentenced to 180 days in county jail for his crimes.

The initial bill that originated in the Senate did not include the amendment to reclassify mifepristone and misoprostol but created the crime of “coerced criminal abortion by means of fraud.”

Abortion has already been almost completely banned in the state, except in cases that pose a threat to the mother’s life or involve a fatal fetal anomaly.

The amended bill passed the House in a 66–30 vote and will now head to the Senate for approval.

Reactions

Ahead of the bill’s passage, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) decried the measure as “extreme” and “dangerous.”

“This first-in-the-nation bill poses a grave threat to Louisianans—it’s outrageous that state Republicans are considering imposing jail time for the possession of safe, FDA-approved abortion medication,” DLCC Communications Director Abhi Rahman said in a statement.

But Caitlin Connors, southern regional director for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said classifying abortion drugs as controlled substances “should be uncontroversial.”

“Like morphine and Valium, the drugs in question will still be available for prescription for legitimate medical reasons—like miscarriage care—but will be harder for abusers to obtain,” Ms. Connors said in a press release.

“This move is necessary in a world where pro-abortion Democrats have enabled abusers to coerce and poison mothers with dangerous abortion drugs by removing in-person doctor visits and giving abortionists immunity through shield laws. Women deserve better.”

The move to reclassify the drugs comes as the U.S. Supreme Court is set to rule on a challenge to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s loosening of restrictions on mifepristone, including allowing the drug to be prescribed via telehealth visits and delivered by mail.

The court has yet to issue a ruling on the matter but is expected to do so by the end of June.

Catherine Yang and The Associated Press contributed to this report.