In October, Louisiana became the first state in the nation to enact a law classifying the most common abortion pills, mifepristone and misoprostol, as “controlled substances,” making their possession a crime for most people. Since then, Texas introduced a near-identical bill in January, and Indiana also introduced a bill to make it a misdemeanor to prescribe or possess medication abortion. And on Tuesday, Idaho’s state House Health and Welfare Committee voted unanimously to introduce their own version.
State Rep. Jordan Redman’s (R) bill adds mifepristone and misoprostol to the state’s Schedule IV controlled substances list. Unlawfully manufacturing or delivering Schedule IV substances is a felony punishable with three years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine in Idaho. And the bill’s text isn’t yet available, so it’s unclear if it includes exceptions for individuals who are pregnant and imminently about to take the pills. (Louisiana’s law provides this exception.)
“Moving these drugs to Schedule IV means they get reported into the prescription drug monitoring program, so there’s more oversight to ensure they aren’t being abused by patients, prescribers or pharmacies,” Redman told the local outlet NCWLife. “To be clear, I fully support appropriate use of these drugs for medically necessary uses that don’t break Idaho law.” Indiana currently enforces a total abortion ban with only narrow exceptions for medical emergencies and some cases of rape.
Redman’s bill comes just days after a Louisiana jury indicted a mother for allegedly obtaining abortion pills for her teen daughter.
The American College of Medical Toxicology condemned Idaho’s bill, stating that it’s “obvious neither medication [mifepristone or misoprostol] meets the definition” of “a controlled dangerous substance,” which is reserved for drugs with high risk of addiction and abuse. Further, the organization warned that because controlled substances require special storage and procedures around ordering and documentation, this could make misoprostol unavailable for time-sensitive emergencies like postpartum hemorrhaging—the most common cause of maternal death. Several Louisiana hospitals are currently suing the state for criminalizing the pills, which they say threaten their patients’ lives due to added barriers for hospitals to obtain misoprostol for emergencies.
It’s only February, and we’re already seeing a rise in states going after abortion pills. That’s why it’s so alarming when anti-abortion lawmakers in one state roll out crafty, previously unseen attacks on abortion access: They’re usually just the start of a new trend.
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