The 2 medication utilized in treatment abortion are formally managed substances in Louisiana after a legislation took impact that criminalizes their possession with no prescription.
The primary-of-its-kind legislation reclassified mifepristone and misoprostol as Schedule IV managed substances, the identical class as opioids, ephedrine and antidepressants. Critics worry it may very well be used as a mannequin for different Republican states with abortion bans to tighten restrictions on the medication.
“This new law sets a dangerous precedent by mischaracterizing safe medications that are neither addictive nor dangerous, but rather are standard of care for a variety of women’s health and other conditions,” stated Jennifer Avegno, director of the New Orleans Well being Division, in a press release.
Throughout a drugs abortion, mifepristone is given first, adopted by misoprostol one to 2 days later.
Schedule IV medication have a at present accepted medical use, however “abuse of the drug or other substance may lead to limited physical dependence or psychological dependence relative to the drugs or other substances,” in response to state legislation.
To prescribe managed substances, physicians within the state want a particular license, and the state tracks the affected person, doctor and pharmacy concerned in every prescription. The medication nonetheless can be obtainable in hospitals, however now have to be saved below lock and key in a safe cupboard.
The brand new legislation criminalizes possession for anybody who doesn’t have a prescription or is a licensed supplier, and topics violators to a nice of as much as $5,000 and as much as 5 years in jail.
It exempts from prosecution pregnant girls who possess the tablets “for her own consumption,” however anybody who helps her get the tablets could be in danger, even when they by no means carry out an abortion.
The legislation creates the crime of “coerced criminal abortion by means of fraud” — the place somebody knowingly offers abortion tablets to a pregnant lady with out her information or consent.
State Sen. Thomas Pressly (R) stated he sponsored the laws as a result of his sister was secretly drugged with abortion-inducing treatment by her then-husband.
Critics stated the legislation was not based mostly on science or public security, however was meant to cease girls from discovering workarounds to the state’s abortion ban.
Louisiana already bans virtually all surgical and medicine abortions besides to avoid wasting a affected person’s life or as a result of a being pregnant is “medically futile.” Abortion tablets are unlawful to get by the mail in Louisiana, however defend legal guidelines in blue states have allowed physicians to thwart state bans and proceed prescribing and sending them by on-line telehealth.
The brand new legislation in Louisiana might cease that. It might seemingly make it unlawful for a girl to have the tablets available even when she isn’t pregnant and imminently planning to take them, a observe generally known as “advance provision” that’s develop into more and more standard in states with abortion bans.
Except for abortion, the 2 medication produce other medical makes use of and the brand new restrictions might restrict entry to secure and wanted medicines.
Misoprostol particularly has wide-ranging functions in reproductive well being together with for labor induction, to melt the cervix throughout surgical procedures and medical administration of miscarriage. It’s additionally on the World Well being Group Mannequin Checklist of Important Medicines.
“This is a nuisance at best, and fatal at worst, as misoprostol is typically one of the first medications administered in a postpartum hemorrhage, which can become life threatening within minutes,” stated Jane Martin, a maternal fetal medication doctor in Louisiana. “Louisiana already faces one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country, and I worry that this law will only make it worse, especially in rural areas with limited access to care.”
State officers pushed again on that assertion. Louisiana Lawyer Normal Liz Murrill (R) stated in a press release there’s nothing in state legislation that stands in the way in which of medical doctors offering care that stabilizes and treats emergency circumstances for girls.
Anybody who says in any other case is pushing disinformation “intended to create confusion and intimidate women from seeking care they may need in an emergency situation.”
“This legislation does not limit a healthcare provider’s ability to use, prescribe, or fill these medications for legitimate health purposes nor does it impose restrictive burdens on access for emergency purposes,” Murrill stated.
