This week, Louisiana will become the first state to consider abortion pills “controlled dangerous substances.”
The state already has strict anti-abortion laws. Now, it will reclassify two common abortion drugs, mifepristone and misoprostol, as “Schedule IV drugs,” the same category as some opioids and other addictive drugs.
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Doctors are concerned this could cause delays in access that could be detrimental to women.
Used together, mifepristone and misoprostol help manage miscarriages and terminate early pregnancies. Mifepristone, also known as RU-486, blocks the hormone progesterone, which is necessary for the progression of a healthy pregnancy. Misoprostol can both induce labor and stop postpartum bleeding. Many patients even use misoprostol for non-gynecological issues like stomach ulcers.
Right now, you need a prescription to obtain mifepristone and misoprostol in Louisiana. According to doctors, reclassifying the pills will make it more difficult for patients to receive misoprostol in emergencies—such as in the case of postpartum hemorrhages, or severe bleeding after giving birth.
“We call for it in an emergency situation so frequently,” said Jane Martin, an OB-GYN at Ochsner Health in New Orleans. She said the drug is “administered at least once a day on labor and delivery.”
Kylie Cooper, a maternal-fetal specialist, told the AP that she’s worried about the additional red tape surrounding storage requirements in emergency situations where “seconds and minutes count.”
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill is in full support of the reclassification, though, stating that the “intentional delivery of these drugs by organizations operating through the internet or other networks” is illegal. In other words, anyone who does so can and will be prosecuted.
Murrill also insists that the new law “does not limit a health care 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.”
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 14 million women experience postpartum hemorrhages every year, resulting in about 70,000 maternal deaths. With misoprostol being one of the leading treatments for excessive bleeding after childbirth, medical experts are concerned about the impact this will have on patients—and whether the new law will spread to other states.
