Abortion supporters file lawsuit against Louisiana law regulating abortion pill

Abortion advocates have filed a lawsuit challenging a Louisiana law that requires the abortion pill to be labeled as a controlled substance.

The state law, which went into effect last month, places the abortion pill drugs mifepristone and misoprostol on a list of “Schedule IV” controlled drugs, joining other drugs like sedatives and opioids. The classification means the drugs get greater oversight, due to the possibility that they can be abused.

The law is meant to ensure that the abortion pill does not end up in the wrong hands, which is exactly what happened to a family member of the law’s legislative sponsor, State Senator Thomas Pressly. Pressly’s sister was given the abortion pill mifepristone by her husband without her knowledge, in an attempt to kill their preborn child.

As the abortion pill becomes easier to obtain, stories like these are becoming more common, leading to the necessity of greater oversight.

Abortion advocates filed their legal challenge against the new law on October 31. The plaintiffs include a doctor, a pharmacist, the Birthmark Doula Collective, and several women who claim the classification of the drugs puts them at risk. (Doulas typically provide non-medical birth and postpartum support. Some doulas may also assist with abortions, and some may assist with end-of-life care.) One of the plaintiffs is Nancy Davis, a woman who previously traveled to New York from Louisiana in order to abort her preborn child who was diagnosed with acrania, a condition that meant her child had only a 10 percent change of surviving after birth. Despite the fact that her child may have lived, Davis was vocal about the decision she made that killing her child by abortion was “best.”

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It was the state’s law protecting preborn children from abortion — not the current abortion pill regulations — that prevented Davis from obtaining an abortion in Louisiana.

In their suit, the plaintiffs claim the law is unconstitutional, arguing that it may limit access because mifepristone and misoprostol can be used for conditions other than abortion.

“Restricting immediate access to essential medications like misoprostol compromises our ability to provide urgent, lifesaving care, putting more lives at risk in a system already strained by severe health inequities,” Birthmark said in a statement.

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said the state is prepared to defend its law.

“I can’t respond to a lawsuit we have not seen, but I’m confident this law is constitutional,” she said in a statement. “We will vigorously defend it.”

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