CNN
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Louisiana Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed a bill Friday classifying the abortion-inducing medication misoprostol and mifepristone as Schedule IV controlled dangerous substances, a first-of-its-kind legislation that locations them in the identical class as narcotics and depressants.
“Requiring an abortion inducing drug to be obtained with a prescription and criminalizing the usage of an abortion drug on an unsuspecting mom is nothing in need of frequent sense,” Landry stated in a statement posted on X. “This invoice protects girls throughout Louisiana and I used to be proud to signal this invoice into legislation at present.”
Underneath the legislation, which took effect with the governor’s signature, it’s now against the law to own the abortion medicine and not using a prescription, in addition to to present the medication to an individual with out their consent.
Anybody present in possession of the medication and not using a legitimate prescription might face a felony cost punishable with as much as 5 years in jail and fines of as much as $5,000. Pregnant girls in possession of mifepristone and misoprostol for their very own consumption are exempt from such penalties. Louisiana docs are additionally permitted beneath the legislation to prescribe the medication.
A conviction in Louisiana for distribution or possession with intent to distribute Schedule IV medication carries a penalty of as much as 10 years in jail and fines of as much as $15,000.
Abortion is already banned in Louisiana with no exceptions for rape or incest.
In a medication abortion, mifepristone blocks the hormone progesterone, which is required for a being pregnant to proceed. A second drug, misoprostol, is taken inside the subsequent 24 to 48 hours. Misoprostol causes the uterus to contract, inflicting cramping and bleeding. Authorised for different makes use of, corresponding to stopping abdomen ulcers, the drug has been obtainable at pharmacies for many years.
Because the invoice made its approach via the state’s legislature, its critics argued that mifepristone and misoprostol are usually not harmful and don’t require the identical degree of regulation as Schedule IV substances and warned that the invoice might create false perceptions across the medicines and stop folks from accessing crucial care.
Republican lawmakers and officers within the state, together with anti-abortion advocates, touted the laws as a solution to shield expectant moms. The invoice’s sponsor, state Sen. Thomas Pressly, has argued the laws wouldn’t stop the prescribing or shelling out of the medication “for professional causes.”
“The docs I’ve consulted with really feel this provision won’t hurt healthcare for girls,” Pressly, a Republican, stated in rebutting a letter from 270 Louisiana physicians, well being care suppliers and medical college students expressing considerations over the reclassification.
CNN has reached out to the governor’s workplace and Pressly’s workplace for remark.
Medicine abortion, which makes up nearly all of abortions obtained in the USA, emerged as a nationwide political flashpoint after the Supreme Courtroom’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022. The Supreme Courtroom is presently contemplating a significant case that challenges the FDA’s approval of the drug mifepristone, with a decision expected by July.
This story has been up to date with further developments.
CNN’s Dianne Gallagher, Shawn Nottingham and John Bonifield contributed to this report.