Doctors issue stark warning as Louisiana reclassifies abortion pills [View all]

Source: The Guardian

Two common abortion pills are, as of Tuesday, classified as “controlled substances” in Louisiana, due to a first-of-its-kind law that medical professionals warn will endanger the lives of women by restricting medication used to treat postpartum hemorrhage and other conditions.

Louisiana, which already bans abortion, passed a law reclassifying mifepristone and misoprostol as schedule IV drugs – a designation typically reserved for drugs that carry a risk of abuse or dependence. People caught with the drugs without a valid prescription could face up to five years in prison, although pregnant women who procure it for their own use are exempted from punishment under the law.

Although the drugs are typically used in US medication abortions, they are also regularly used in an array of other circumstances, such as to help with miscarriage management, treat ulcers and soften the cervix during labor and other procedures.

Normally, at the Louisiana hospital where OB-GYN Dr Nicole Freehill works, misoprostol is kept in so-called hemorrhage carts, which can be easily wheeled into the rooms where patients deliver babies and which carry medications normally used to treat hemorrhaging, including misoprostol. It takes about 15 seconds to pull the misoprostol out of the cart, Freehill said.



Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/01/louisiana-abortion-pills