Louisiana became the first state to enact a law that classifies the abortion-inducing drugs mifepristone and misoprostol as schedule IV drugs, meaning they are considered potentially dangerous and addictive.
Including the drugs under schedule IV means those caught without a prescription could face jail and fines, and doctors have to have a special license to prescribe them. It puts them in the same category as drugs like Xanax, Ambien and Valium, and goes against the way the FDA classifies the drugs. Gov. Jeff Landry signed the bill into law on Friday.
The law, which will take effect on Oct. 1, also makes using the drugs to cause an abortion on an “unsuspecting pregnant mother” a crime.
Despite the overturning of Roe v. Wade and states passing more restrictive abortion laws, the Guttmacher Institute reported in March that an estimated 1.03 million abortions took place in the healthcare system in 2023, which is the first full calendar year after the overturning of federal abortion protection, representing an 11% increase since 2020. Medication abortions were the most commonly used, accounting for 63% of all abortions in 2023, up from 53% in 2020.
The US Supreme Court is still working on a final decision in a case that would restrict access to one of the drugs, mifepristone, after a Fifth Circuit court ruled that mifepristone’s use would be restricted to conditions that existed before the FDA loosened some regulations around the drug, including allowing it to be distributed by mail in 2021. The court must decide whether to reverse the the Fifth Circuit’s decision. In March, the court heard arguments on whether anti-abortion groups have legal standing.