Summary
- A new lawsuit challenges Louisiana’s classification of abortion drugs as controlled dangerous substances.
- The lawsuit alleges that the law creates obstacles for health care providers who need to quickly administer the pill, which has purposes other than abortion, in emergencies.
- Louisiana prohibits most abortions, with limited exceptions.
A group of Louisiana health officials and reproductive rights advocates is suing the state over a new law that would classify abortion pills as controlled dangerous substances.
The law came into force a month ago and puts mifepristone and misoprostol – two pills involved in medication abortion – on Louisiana’s list of “Schedule IV” drugs. The category also includes certain stimulants, sedatives, and opioids.
It is the first time a state has classified abortion pills as controlled substances.
Abortion is largely prohibited in Louisiana, so the law has not had a major impact on abortion access. However, abortions are allowed in some exceptional cases, and doctors often prescribe mifepristone and misoprostol to control miscarriage. Misoprostol is independently approved to prevent peptic ulcers.
According to Allison Zimmer, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, Louisiana’s classification of the drugs as Schedule IV drugs means doctors must be licensed to prescribe them and hospitals must store the pills in a safe place. Anyone found in possession of non-prescription drugs faces a fine of up to $5,000 and up to five years in prison. (The law contains a broad exception, however, for pregnant women whose drugs are for their own consumption.)
A new lawsuit filed Thursday claims the law could create barriers for healthcare providers who need to administer mifepristone and misoprostol in an emergency, delaying patients’ access to the pills and risking harm. The complaint also says the law discriminates against people who need the drugs because patients with equally serious medical needs are not subject to the same delays as those who need other drugs. He tries to prevent the implementation of the law.
“What this will do is make it more dangerous to get pregnant or have different physical conditions,” Zimmer said.
The plaintiffs include a doctor, a pharmacist, two reproductive rights advocates and the Birthmark Doula Collective, a doula practice that advocates for pregnant people in Louisiana. It names the state, the attorney general, the board of pharmacy and the board of medical examiners as defendants.
“The law is supposed to prevent drug abuse, but the real purpose is to make it harder to get an abortion,” said Nancy Davis, one of the two attorneys who filed the lawsuit.
According to the American College of Medical Toxicology, mifepristone and misoprostol do not meet the definition of a controlled substance. Association warned in September such labeling of pills “is inconsistent with decades of scientific evidence” and has set a dangerous precedent of “politicizing pharmaceutical regulation.”
But Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill continued her support for the law on Friday.
“I am sure that this law is constitutional. We will vigorously defend it,” Murrill said in a statement.
Abortion in Louisiana is permitted only when the fetus is not expected to survive or when terminating the pregnancy would save the life of the pregnant woman or prevent serious risks to her health.
Zimmer said the new classification of abortion pills is “an example of the state trying to demonstrate as much as possible that it is an anti-abortion state.”
It appeared in response to the law A special event in Texas In the presence of Kathryn Herring, the sister of Louisiana Senator Thomas Pressley, her husband is accused of putting abortion pills in his drinks. The baby survived and Herring’s husband pleaded guilty to charges of injury to a child and assault on a pregnant woman. Louisiana law established a crime known as “forced abortion” — the intentional giving of abortion pills to a pregnant woman without her knowledge or consent.
“Mrs. “Herring’s courageous testimony showed that easy access to these drugs can be dangerous for pregnant women and exposes women to risks of coercion, abuse and criminal behavior,” Murrill said. said in the statement.
When Pressly first introduced the bill, it did not include the classification of abortion pills as controlled substances — something that was later added as an amendment by Pressly. he said at the time It was another step to “control the illegal distribution of abortion drugs that harmed my sister.”
But the new lawsuit claims the amendment is clearly unrelated to the original bill and suggests the law be struck down entirely. Zimmer said the amendment was added “very, very late in the legislative process, at such a late date” that a public hearing was not held.
Davis and another plaintiff in the suit, Kaitlyn Joshua, were not given the opportunity to testify before lawmakers before the law was passed, the lawsuit says.
Joshua, a 32-year-old Baton Rouge resident, said he was turned away from two emergency rooms in 2022 after he went into labor at about 11 weeks. She worries that the policy could lead to more women in Louisiana, especially Black women, not being cared for the way she was.
“This current law, I know, will disproportionately affect women who look like me, who already live in maternal health deserts,” Joshua said.