BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) - The Louisiana Legislature has sent a bill to Governor Jeff Landry’s desk that reclassifies two drugs that can induce abortions as Schedule IV controlled dangerous substances.

Louisiana is the first state to take such a step to curb access to the drugs without a valid prescription. Being classified as Schedule IV means if someone is found to be in possession of the drugs without a prescription they can face up to five years in prison.

There is a carve out in the bill that would not punish a woman who has the pill for her own consumption. Some legislators fear if a woman has the pills on hand for potential future use or a family member picks up their prescriptions they can get in trouble.

The two pills, mifepristone and misoprostol, are used for more than just abortions. They can be used for miscarriage treatment, Cushing’s syndrome treatment, hemorrhaging treatment, and more.

SB276 started as legislation from state Sen. Thomas Pressly, R-Shreveport, to clarify in law the crime of coerced abortion by fraud. The senator’s sister, Catherine Pressly Herring, who lives in Texas was slipped the abortion inducing drug in cups of water by her husband without her knowing. 

At the time, she was pregnant with their third child after he had asked for a separation. She fell ill after drinking one of the cups of water and sought medical treatment right away. That care saved her baby Josephine. Her daughter was born two months early and still has some medical issues from the incident.

The original version of the bill created a baseline punishment of 5-10 years in prison and a $10,000-$75,000 fine. The penalty increases to 10-20 years in prison with a fine of $50,000-$100,000 if the pregnancy has reached more than three months as it has a greater risk of bodily harm to the mother.

Once the bill had passed the Senate with wide bipartisan support, an amendment crafted by the powerful anti-abortion rights group Louisiana Right to Life was added changing the schedule for mifepristone and misoprostol. 

Over 200 doctors wrote a letter to the legislature asking them not to create a “barrier to physicians; ease of prescribing appropriate treatment.” Louisiana has one of the highest mortality rates in the country and ranks 50th in health outcomes.

“50th in health outcomes is not pro-life,” said state Rep. Aimee Freeman in a House debate.

Louisiana already has one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the country. Abortions are only allowed in the cases of when the fetus is found to be “medically futile” or there is a risk of the mother’s life. In 2022, the legislature passed a law that makes it a crime to have an elective abortion using the drugs and made it illegal to get the drugs via the mail, despite that being hard for the state to enforce.

Moving the drugs into Schedule IV will also add doctors and patients to tracking lists. This is done through the Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs. Doctors will need a DEA license to prescribe the drugs as well according to House debate.

Schedule IV is often reserved for drugs that can be addictive or abused such as Xanax and Valium. LA Right to Life claims there is “rampant abuse” of the drugs in regard to being used for abortions.

Legislators recognize that the drugs will still be available through prescriptions, but with the extra guard rails being added in it could mean major delays to access the medication for women in medical crises or in rural areas.

The passage of the bill in the House gained attention from Vice President Kamala Harris who tweeted “Absolutely unconscionable. The Louisiana House just passed a bill that would criminalize the possession of medication abortion, with penalties of up to several years of jail time. Let’s be clear: Donald Trump did this.”

Pressly replied to the VP stating it was a disingenuous statement as the drug would still be available with a prescription.

Governor Landry has already signaled he would sign the bill. The changes would be put into effect upon his signature.

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