LOUISIANA (Illuminator Louisiana) – Democrats on a congressional panel say a new Louisiana law classifying pregnancy care drugs as controlled dangerous substances will put women’s lives at risk.

The report from members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s minority party ties Louisiana policy to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s reproductive health platform.

“This law is yet another example of the poorly written, anti-science policy that Republican extremists have tried to pass in states across the country,” the report said.

As of October 1, mifepristone and misoprostol are treated as Schedule IV drugs in Louisiana, requiring them to be secured. The drugs were targeted because they can be used together for abortions, but both have multiple other uses, particularly misoprostol. It was the mainstay of treatment to stop life-threatening bleeding after childbirth.

Hospitals and other medical institutions can no longer have quick and easy access to medicines. Instead of including misoprostol in “bleeding kits” taken in delivery rooms, it must now be kept in a separate access code-protected dispensary system. Their prescription and use must also be closely monitored.

“Requiring life-saving drugs to be kept in a box and threatening doctors with jail time and fines will only worsen Louisiana’s existing maternal health crisis,” said Frank Pallone Jr., DN.J., a member of the ranking Energy and Commerce, in a press release. “This report demonstrates that Louisiana’s new law is clearly intended to create a chilling effect on both patients and doctors that will undoubtedly put women’s lives at risk.”

The report highlights concerns that the legislation could become a model for other states. Democratic staff on the committee said they are not in a position to set the agenda for committee hearings while they are in the minority, but if the Nov. 5 election puts them in the majority, things could change. Regardless, panelists say access to reproductive health care will continue to be a focus, both legislatively and from an oversight perspective.

Oversight of drug regulation falls under the purview of the energy and commerce subcommittee on health. The Democrats’ report includes harsh criticism of the Louisiana Legislature for designating mifepristone and misoprostol as Schedule IV drugs, putting them in the same category as potentially addictive or abused substances like Ambien and Valium.

State lawmakers did not follow the typical process and medically and scientifically evaluate reproductive drugs as drugs with potential for abuse, the report said.

“The Louisiana Legislature politicized its medication scheduling — an otherwise legitimate medical tool to prevent drug abuse — and directly placed mifepristone and misoprostol under Schedule IV of the state’s controlled substances, ignoring all existing scientific and medical data about these safe and effective FDA approved. “, the report states.

“The only thing this bill does is create a pretext for investigating women, their loved ones, providers and pharmacists,” wrote the Democrats on the committee.

Doctors and reproductive rights organizations are challenging the new law in state court after filing a process Thursday. They argue that the measure, Act 246, violates the state constitution because it discriminates against people with certain medical conditions.

Additionally, the lawsuit points out that lawmakers added the drug restrictions to a bill that originally sought to create the crime of forced abortion. The lawsuit claims the changes were unrelated to the original intent of the proposal, which the plaintiffs say also violates a constitutional provision.

State Sen. Thomas Pressly, R-Shreveport, is the author of the bill. He was inspired to write it after his pregnant sister was given abortion drugs in 2022 by her then-husband without her knowledge.

Catherine Herring almost lost her daughter, who was born 10 weeks premature with significant health problems. Mason Herring pleaded guilty in a Texas court to injuring a child and assaulting a pregnant woman. He was sentenced to six months in prison, a sentence that Pressly said was insufficient.

“No woman should be drugged without her knowledge, and bad actors should not be able to obtain Misoprostol or Mifepristone in an effort to kill unborn babies,” the senator said when asked for comment on the congressional report. “Louisiana law allows healthcare providers to continue to prescribe these drugs for medically necessary purposes while limiting the ability of bad actors to obtain these drugs. I am proud of the work we are doing in Louisiana to protect women and the unborn by criminalizing the weaponization of these drugs.”

Pressly and Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill insist the law should not lead to delays in access to misoprostol and mifepristone, but doctors and patients are reporting issues. Among the medical professionals the committee reached out to was New Orleans Health Director Dr. Jennifer Avegno, who leads an impact study on the new law to investigate these delays.

“As this report makes clear, there is no scientific or medical justification for mislabeling mifepristone and misoprostol as ‘dangerous’ substances,” Avegno said in a statement to Brightening. “In fact, the standard of care and best practices require that these drugs be immediately available to treat a variety of common and serious conditions. As hundreds of Louisiana physicians have observed, this law has the potential to directly harm patients and does nothing to improve maternal morbidity and mortality in our state.”

Illuminator Louisiana is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. The Louisiana Illuminator maintains its editorial independence. Contact editor Greg LaRose with questions: [email protected]. Watch the Louisiana Illuminator Facebook and X.

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