Louisiana’s Republican governor, Jeff Landry, signed into law Friday a bill classifying two abortion-inducing drugs as controlled substances, according to the Associated Press.
The bill targets the drugs mifepristone and misoprostol, which are used to perform abortions. APAbortion pills fall into the same category as opioids, sedatives and other addictive drugs. CBS News The move reportedly makes Louisiana the first state to pass legislation restricting the two drugs.
The law would not punish pregnant women for possessing the pill, but could lead to prosecution of others who possess the pill without a valid prescription, the report noted. (Related: Investigation: Demand for abortion pills surges in Republican states after Dobbs scandal)
The new law, which goes into effect on October 1, began as a measure to ban “fraudulent coercive abortions,” according to the Associated Press, which said the law was intended to punish those who administer abortion drugs to pregnant mothers without their consent.
“Requiring abortion-inducing drugs to be available without a prescription and making it a crime to administer them to unsuspecting mothers makes perfect common sense,” Landry said in a statement, according to the Associated Press.
Requiring abortion-inducing pills to be available without a prescription and making it a crime to administer abortion to unsuspecting mothers makes perfect common sense. This bill will protect women across Louisiana, and I am proud to sign it into law today.
appreciate… pic.twitter.com/WJEjuqlw2Y
— Governor Jeff Landry (@LAGovJeffLandry) May 24, 2024
But Ellie Schilling, a lawyer who specializes in reproductive health law, told reporters that the measure would make it “incredibly difficult” for women to obtain the drugs and would force states to go after those who use and prescribe them, CBS News reported.
According to CBS News, President Joe Biden released a statement on Thursday saying the move was “a direct result of President Trump’s overturning Roe v. Wade” and accused the former president of advocating “some kind of ‘punishment’ for receiving reproductive health care.”
