Louisiana Passes Law Classifying Abortion Pills as ‘Controlled Dangerous Substances’

Louisiana’s governor signed a bill into law Friday that classifies two abortion-inducing drugs as “controlled dangerous substances.”

Republican Governor Jeff Landry announced the new law in a post on X. “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,” he wrote. “This bill protects women across Louisiana and I was proud to sign this bill into law today.”

He also thanked state Sen. Thomas Pressly, who is largely responsible for the bill, which nearly 270 Louisiana health-care professionals urged against.

Louisiana is the first state to consider the drugs misopristol and mifepristone as Schedule IV drugs, alongside narcotics and opioids. As a result, possessing these pills without a prescription is considered a felony in that state.

The bill was approved by the Louisiana House on Tuesday, and passed in the state Senate on Thursday. Vice President Kamala Harris posted about the advancement of the bill on Thursday in a post on X.

“Extremists in Louisiana just passed legislation to criminalize the possession of safe and effective abortion medication with penalties of several years of jail time,” she wrote. “Donald Trump is to blame.”

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