Idaho lawmakers will soon be considering a bill that would classify abortion pills as controlled substances.
Republican Representative Jordan Redman presented his bill to fellow lawmakers on Tuesday. The House Health and Welfare Committee voted unanimously to advance the bill, which allows it to next come to a full hearing. The bill would add the chemical abortion drugs mifepristone and misoprostol to a list of Schedule IV controlled substances, placing them in the same category as drugs like Valium and Xanax.
“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 said. “To be clear, I fully support appropriate use of these drugs for medically necessary uses that don’t break Idaho law.”
According to Coeur d’Alene/Post Falls Press, unlawful manufacture or distribution of a Schedule IV drug is a felony punishable by up to three years in prison and/or up to a $10,000 fine.
READ: Appeals court upholds most of Idaho law protecting minors from abortion trafficking
Redman’s bill is similar to a Louisiana law that went into effect last fall. That law was sponsored by State Senator Thomas Pressly, who said his sister was unknowingly given the abortion pill mifepristone by her husband, who wanted to kill their preborn child. As the abortion pill has become more freely available, especially through telehealth distribution, stories like of women who have unwittingly been given the pill to cause an abortion have tragically become more common.
The abortion pill regimen involves both mifepristone and misoprostol. A woman first takes mifepristone, which blocks the pregnancy hormone progesterone, necessary to sustain the life of the preborn child. This essentially starves the child of the vital nutrients he needs to survive. The mother then takes misoprostol, which causes contractions, inducing the delivery of the child. Side effects may include severe cramping, contractions, and heavy bleeding, as well as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and headaches.
When taken without direct oversight of a doctor, the woman is at even greater risk as there is no way to confirm the preborn child’s gestational age or rule out an extra-uterine (ectopic) pregnancy, or any other contraindications that may put the mother at risk.
Idaho law currently protects nearly all preborn children from abortion, with narrow exceptions for rape, incest, and the mother’s life.
