The state of Louisiana has become the first in the United States to pass a law adding two abortion-inducing drugs to the state’s list of controlled dangerous substances, making their possession without a prescription punishable by prison time and fines.
The measure, a Republican initiative, was approved by the House of Representatives on Tuesday (21) and by the Senate this Thursday (23), and now depends only on the signature of the governor of Louisiana, Republican Jeffrey Martin Landry, to be promulgated.
The measure adds mifepristone and misoprostol, two medications used to terminate pregnancies, to Schedule IV of the Louisiana Uniform Controlled Hazardous Substances Act.
Abortion is prohibited in Louisiana. The new law punishes possession of any of the medications without valid prescriptions or orders from medical professionals with up to five years in prison.
According to the Associated Press agency, supporters of the measure claim that the reclassification of mifepristone and misoprostol will protect pregnant women from forced abortions.
Although Louisiana’s abortion ban includes the procedure performed through medication, pregnant women who obtain the drugs for their own use will not be subject to prosecution – these drugs have other uses, including aiding childbirth, preventing gastrointestinal ulcers, and the treatment of spontaneous abortions.
Other Schedule IV substances include some narcotics; anxiolytics such as Xanax and Valium; muscle relaxants; sleeping pills; and stimulants that can be used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and weight loss.
The United States Supreme Court is considering a request to limit nationwide access to mifepristone.
In April last year, a Texas district judge had ordered the Food and Drug Administration (FDA, a body similar to Anvisa) to withdraw the health authorization for mifepristone, which has been in force since 2000.
Days later, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowed the drug to continue being sold but stipulated that access to it must be limited.
The court ordered the return of rules prior to 2016, which prevented the pill from being sent by mail to patients treated via telemedicine or who make contact via the internet with organizations that supply the drug, which should only be collected in person at hospitals and clinics. The Joe Biden administration and Danco, the company that manufactures the pill, contested both decisions.
The Supreme Court then ruled that the post-2016 rules for the abortion pill would remain intact until there was an outcome to the case.
In March, the court heard oral arguments. The Supreme Court is expected to announce its decision at the end of June. According to the Guttmacher Institute, 54% of abortions in the United States in 2022 were performed with abortion pills like mifepristone or misoprostol. (With EFE Agency)
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