Louisiana passes bill to make abortion pills a controlled dangerous substance

Louisiana lawmakers on Tuesday approved a bill that would add two medications commonly used to induce an abortion to the state’s list of controlled dangerous substances, making possession of the drugs without a valid prescription a crime punishable by a fine, jail time or both.

The measure, which has drawn support from anti-abortion groups and alarm from medical professionals and reproductive rights advocates, would add the medications mifepristone and misoprostol to Schedule IV of the state’s Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Law. Abortion — both medical and surgical — is illegal in Louisiana, so it is already illegal to prescribe the medications to terminate a pregnancy, except in very limited circumstances.

Medication abortions accounted for 63% of all abortions in 2023, according to the reproductive rights think tank the Guttmacher Institute.

The bill passed Tuesday in a vote in the state’s GOP-controlled House of Representatives, 64-29.

The measure will now go back to the Senate, and if approved, will then be sent to the governor to sign into law.

The legislation would make possession of the medications without a valid prescription or an order from a medical professional punishable by up to five years in prison. Pregnant people who obtain the medications for their own consumption would not be subject to prosecution, according to the legislation.

Medical professionals have spoken out against the measure, saying the medications have critical uses outside of abortion care, including aiding in labor and delivery, miscarriage treatment, and the prevention of gastrointestinal ulcers.

Schedule IV substances include some narcotics; medications within the category of depressants, such as Xanax and Valium; muscle