Louisiana Republican Governor, Jeff Landry has signed a bill classifying abortion inducing pills, misoprotol and mifepristone as Schedule IV controlled dangerous substances.
Landry took to his X (formerly Twitter) handle to make this announcement on Friday where he emphasised that the bill, now signed into law would protect women across Louisiana.
He wrote, “Requiring an abortion inducing drug to be obtained with a prescription and criminalising the use of an abortion drug on an unsuspecting mother is nothing short of common sense. This bill protects women across Louisiana and I was proud to sign this bill into law today.”
Under the Law, these abortion drugs are placed under the same category as narcotics and depressants.
It is now crime to possess them without a prescription as well as to administer them without a person’s consent.
With exemption of pregnant women, anyone found in possession of misoprotol and mifepristone without a valid prescription could be charged to 5 years in prison and fines of about $5,000.
Hundreds of health care providers in the state have raised concerns over this reclassification.
According them, Mifepristone and Misoprotol have other medical advantages, miscarriage care inclusive.
They warned that outrightly classifying misoprotol and mifepristone as dangerous substances would create false perceptions around the medications’ in the mind of people and stop them from accessing necessary care.
“Requiring an abortion inducing drug to be obtained with a prescription and criminalizing the use of an abortion drug on an unsuspecting mother is nothing short of common sense.
“This bill protects women across Louisiana and I was proud to sign this bill into law today.”
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