A group of Louisiana health care providers and reproductive rights advocates are challenging the state’s unprecedented action of classifying abortion pills mifepristone and misoprostol to the state’s list of controlled substances.
Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican, signed Louisiana Act 246 into law in May — a choice which effectuated the most extreme legal action yet taken on the drugs . Under the law, the two medications, which have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for more than two decades, are now classified as Schedule IV drugs. The classification puts mifepristone and misoprostol on part with certain painkillers and mood-altering medications that merit greater oversight due to their potential for abuse or dependence.
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Birthmark Doula Collective — a nonprofit reproductive health care organization — along with a doctor, a pharmacist, and a group of women filed suit in state court in Baton Rouge on Thursday challenging the law, which they say delays lifesaving treatment to people experiencing obstetric emergencies. The plaintiffs also point out that the drugs in question have uses other than abortion.