By Maria Ortiz
May 23, 2024, 18:58 PM EDT
The Louisiana state legislature on Thursday gave final approval to legislation adding mifepristone and misoprostol, two FDA-approved abortion-inducing drugs, to the state’s list of controlled dangerous substances in the state and is now expected to Republican Governor Jeff Landry signs it into law.
Mifepristone was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2000 after federal regulators considered safe and effective for terminating premature pregnancies. It is used in combination with misoprostol, which the FDA separately approved also to treat stomach ulcers.
The state measure, the first of its kind to be enacted in the United States, It is promoted by Republican legislators and had been approved last Tuesday by the House of Representatives and on Thursday by the state Senate.
Doctors and reproductive rights advocates have expressed alarm over the controversial measure, which includes mifepristone and misoprostol, two drugs used to terminate pregnancies, in Schedule IV of Louisiana’s Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Act.
Abortion is prohibited in Louisiana and prescribing both medications is also prohibited.
The new law Possession of any of these drugs without prescriptions is punishable by up to five years in prison. or valid orders from medical professionals.
However, pregnant women who obtain the drugs for their own use would not be subject to prosecution, according to the legislation.
The federal government does not classify these two drugs as controlled substances because regulators They are not considered to carry a significant risk of misuse.
The federal Controlled Substances Act restricts the use and distribution of prescription medications such as opioids, amphetamines, sleeping pills, and other drugs that carry a risk of addiction and overdose.
Doctors criticize that these medications have critical uses outside of abortion care, including assisting in childbirth, preventing gastrointestinal ulcers, and treating miscarriages.
The measure has the support of anti-abortion groups and the rejection of medical professionals and reproductive rights advocates in Louisiana.
Currently, 14 states are imposing abortion bans at all stages of pregnancy, with limited exceptions.
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