Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry (Republican) Signed On Friday, the first bill to make it a crime to administer abortion pills to unsuspecting pregnant women was passed.
law, SB276It also classifies two drugs used in medication abortions, mifepristone and misoprostol, as controlled substances, putting them in the same category as opioids and other dangerous drugs.
“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,” Landry said in a statement on X. “This bill will protect women across Louisiana, and I am proud to have signed this bill into law today.”
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 this bill into law today.
appreciate… pic.twitter.com/WJEjuqlw2Y
— Governor Jeff Landry (@LAGovJeffLandry) May 24, 2024
The law makes it illegal to possess abortion pills without a prescription in Louisiana. Outlaw It bans all abortions except to save the pregnant woman’s life, to prevent serious health damage, or when the fetus is not expected to survive the gestational age.
Anyone convicted of possessing abortion pills without a valid prescription can face up to five years in prison. Pregnant women themselves are exempt from the law, which makes an exception for using the same pills for other purposes.
The bill also creates a new crime category, “forced abortion crime,” which would prohibit the fraudulent use of abortion pills to induce or attempt an abortion on a pregnant woman without her knowledge or consent. This crime is punishable by five to 10 years in prison and a fine of $10,000 to $75,000.
A bottle of the medication misoprostol sits on a table at the West Alabama Women’s Center in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, March 15, 2022. (Associated Press/Allen G. Breed)
According to the bill, anyone who performs a forced abortion on a woman who is three months or older could face 10 to 20 years in prison and a fine of $50,000 to $100,000. The bill is scheduled to go into effect on October 1.
Senator Thomas Pressley (R-Texas) introduced the bill after his pregnant sister’s husband secretly attempted to abort her multiple times using abortion pills. The man, named Mason Herring, eventually pleaded guilty to injury to a child and assaulting a pregnant woman, and was sentenced to six months in prison after reaching a plea deal with the district attorney. Shreveport Times report
“I don’t believe 180 days is justice for trying to kill a child seven times,” Presley’s sister, Katherine Herring, told The Associated Press.
Herring was ultimately able to save her daughter through an abortion reversal procedure that Democrats now oppose. Targeting Her daughter is currently suffering from some adverse effects after being born 10 weeks early, according to reports, but similar symptoms are being reported across the country.
“I am so grateful that my niece and sister survived this incredibly brutal crime, but I want to make sure no other women have to go through this,” Pressley told the USA Today Network.
“It is clear that six months in prison is not enough for this crime,” Pressley said. Said“Our family does not believe justice was served in my sister’s case.”
The pro-abortion Biden administration was quick to pin the blame for the bill’s passage on former President Donald Trump, denouncing it as another attempt to restrict so-called reproductive freedom.
Extremists in Louisiana just passed a bill that makes possession of safe and effective abortion pills a crime, punishable by several years in prison.
Donald Trump is to blame.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) May 23, 2024
“Extremists in Louisiana have passed a bill that criminalizes possession of safe and effective abortion pills with years in prison. Donald Trump is to blame,” Vice President Kamala Harris said in a post on X.
“The lies from the Biden Administration are being repeated again and again, day after day. I am proud to stand with Congress to ensure this drug is legal and safe to access, and that all women are protected. Without this bill, women and their unborn children will be more vulnerable to predators.
…On the contrary https://t.co/rNwWslPp5b
— Jeff Landry (@JeffLandry) May 24, 2024
In another post on X, Landry slammed Harris, saying it was “yet another lie coming out of the Biden Administration.”
“I am proud to stand with Congress to protect all women by ensuring they have legal and safe access to this medication. Without this bill, women and their unborn children will be more vulnerable to predators,” Landry wrote. “Contrary to the false narratives circulating in the media, we stand with the women of Louisiana.”
Ask the Senator translation:I told my sister how safe these drugs are. This is ignorant in every way. https://t.co/SHOmN9RnLU
— Attorney General Liz Murrill (@AGLizMurrill) May 23, 2024
“Just ask Senator Pressley’s sister how safe these drugs are,” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill added. “Ignorant on all counts.”
The Supreme Court is currently hearing a case brought by pro-life groups and doctors asking the Food and Drug Administration to reinstate some safety restrictions on the use of mifepristone, the drug originally used in the two-drug abortion regimen.
The eliminated regulations include the FDA’s 2016 decision to extend the acceptable gestational age at which girls and women can receive the abortion pill from seven to 10 weeks of pregnancy, the repeal of a rule requiring prescribers to report non-fatal complications from the abortion pill, and a 2021 rule change to allow abortion doctors to mail out mifepristone. The FDA also recently made permanent a rule allowing women and girls to receive mifepristone prescriptions through telehealth.
According to the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute, medication abortions will account for 63% of all abortions in the United States by 2023, up from 53% in 2020.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X. Follow.
