Louisiana became the first state to classify abortion pills as a controlled dangerous substance when its Republican governor signed a bill into law.

CNN
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Louisiana’s Republican governor, Jeff Landry, on Friday signed a bill classifying the abortion-inducing drugs misoprostol and mifepristone as Schedule IV controlled dangerous substances, the first law to place them in the same category as narcotics and sedatives.

“Requiring abortion-inducing pills to be available without a prescription and making it a crime to administer abortion to unsuspecting mothers makes perfect common sense,” Landry said in a statement on X. “This bill will protect women across Louisiana, and I am proud to have signed this bill into law today.”

The law, signed by the governor, makes it a crime to possess abortion pills without a prescription and to provide the pills without the individual’s consent.

Anyone found in possession of these drugs without a valid prescription can be charged with a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000. Pregnant women who possess mifepristone and misoprostol for their own consumption are exempt from these penalties. Doctors in Louisiana are also permitted by law to prescribe these drugs.

In Louisiana, if you are convicted of selling or possessing with intent to sell a Schedule IV drug, you face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000.

Louisiana already bans abortions in cases of rape or incest, with no exceptions.

In a medical abortion, mifepristone blocks progesterone, a hormone needed to continue the pregnancy. A second drug, misoprostol, is taken within 24 to 48 hours afterwards. Misoprostol causes the uterus to contract, causing cramps and bleeding. The drug is approved for other uses, including preventing stomach ulcers, and has been available over the counter for decades.

As the bill made its way through the state Legislature, critics argued that mifepristone and misoprostol are not dangerous and do not need the same level of regulation as Schedule IV drugs, and warned that the bill could create false perceptions about the drugs and prevent people from getting the treatment they need.

Republican lawmakers, state officials and abortion opponents touted the bill as a measure to protect pregnant women, and state Sen. Thomas Pressley, the bill’s sponsor, argued that the bill would not prevent people from prescribing or dispensing the drug for “legitimate reasons.”

“The physicians I have consulted with feel that this provision will not adversely affect women’s medical care,” Pressley, a Republican, said in response to a letter from 270 Louisiana physicians, health care workers and medical students who expressed concerns about the reclassification.

CNN has reached out to the governor’s office and Pressley’s office for comment.

Medication abortions, which account for the majority of abortions performed in the United States, have become a national political issue following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022. The Supreme Court is currently hearing a key case challenging the FDA’s approval of the drug mifepristone, and is expected to rule by July.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

CNN’s Diane Gallagher, Sean Nottingham and John Bonifield contributed to this report.