Starting Tuesday in Louisiana, the two drugs used in medication abortion — mifepristone and misoprostol — will be reclassified as controlled substances in the state , making it a crime punishable by up to five years in prison to possess the drugs without a prescription. The law, the first of its kind in the nation, will designate the pills as Schedule IV controlled substances , a classification typically given to drugs that carry a potential for dependency or abuse, such as Ambien or Xanax. Abortion is already banned in Louisiana with few exceptions.
That means that mifepristone and misoprostol couldn’t be prescribed for that purpose, according to Dr. Jennifer Avegno, the director of the New Orleans Health Department. What concerns experts is that the new law could limit the use of the drugs to treat other conditions, some of which are life-threatening, putting women’s health at risk.
The move, experts say, isn’t based on medical science but instead on ongoing efforts from anti-abortion advocates to restrict access to abortion medications in states with near-total bans, like Louisiana. As of Aug. 22, more than a dozen states have banned abortions or no longer have facilities where women can receive abortions, according to an NBC News tracker .
“These medications are being placed on this list due to a perceived moral implication,” said Dr. Greg Caudill, the immediate past president of the Louisiana Society of Addiction Medicine and a physician who prescribes cont.