The governor of Louisiana signed a bill on Friday that adds two medications commonly used to induce abortions to the state’s list of controlled dangerous substances. The measure makes Louisiana the only state to categorize mifepristone and misoprostol in this way, adding them to Schedule IV of the state’s Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Law. The Senate passed the bill Thursday by a vote of 29-7 and Louisiana Gov.
Jeff Landry, a Republican, announced that he had signed the bill into law on Friday afternoon. "This bill protects women across Louisiana," he wrote on social media. The legislation makes possession of the medications without valid prescriptions or orders from medical professionals punishable by up to five years in prison .
Pregnant people who obtain the medications for their own consumption would not be subject to prosecution, according to the legislation. Schedule IV substances include some narcotics; medications within the category of depressants, such as Xanax and Valium; muscle relaxants; sleep aids; and stimulants that can be used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and weight loss. The policy drew support from anti-abortion advocates and alarm from medical professionals and abortion-rights activists in a state where both medication and surgical abortion are illegal, except in very limited circumstances.
President Joe Biden said in a statement Thursday that the bill was “outrageous” and that this was “a direct result of Trump ove.
