A bill passed by lawmakers Thursday could see the state become the first in the country to classify two abortion-inducing drugs as controlled and dangerous substances—a move doctors and reproductive rights advocates say could have far-reaching implications for health care access in the state. The bill, , passed the state Senate with a vote of 29 to 7, after having passed in the House with a vote of 66 to 30 on Tuesday. It will next go to Republican Gov.
Jeff Landry, who is expected to sign it into law. Supporters of the bill say it will protect pregnant people from coerced abortions, while opponents argue that the two drugs, mifepristone and misoprostol, have many other uses aside from abortion, and that reclassifying them as controlled substances would make it more difficult for patients to access the drug when needed. Here’s what the bill would do, and the controversy surrounding it.
The bill, sponsored by Republican Sen. Thomas Pressly, on criminalizing intentionally using medications to cause or attempt to cause an abortion without the pregnant person’s knowledge or consent. Pressly he sponsored the bill after his sister learned that her husband had given her abortion-inducing drugs without her knowledge or consent.
Several Louisiana doctors and reproductive rights advocates say they were concerned not by the initial bill, but by its amendment, which was . The amendment labels mifepristone and misoprostol as Schedule IV drugs under Louisiana’s Uniform Controlled D.
