CV NEWS FEED // The Louisiana Senate on Thursday passed a bill that would classify the abortion-inducing drugs mifepristone and misoprostol as Schedule IV controlled substances.
State Sen. Thomas Pressly, R-Shreveport, sponsored SB 276. The bill passed the Senate by an overwhelming majority of 29-7.
The Louisiana House of Representatives had already passed the bill by a 64-29 vote earlier this week. The legislation now awaits the signature of Republican Gov. Jeff Landry, a pro-life Catholic.
If SB 276 goes into effect, it would cement Louisiana’s status as the first state in the nation to classify abortion pills as Schedule IV drugs, per Axios.
In addition, Axios reported that if the bill is enacted, “[a] person in Louisiana caught with mifepristone or misoprostol without a prescription could face up to 10 years in prison.”
The bill’s text states that it seeks “to create the crime of coerced criminal abortion by means of fraud.”
“Coerced criminal abortion by means of fraud is committed when a person knowingly and intentionally engages in the use or attempted use of an abortion-inducing drug on a pregnant woman, without her knowledge or consent, to cause an abortion,” it adds.
NBC News reported that Pressly “has said the issue is personal to him and his sister, Catherine Herring.”
“Herring’s estranged husband was accused of slipping abortion medication into her drinks when she was pregnant with their third child,” NBC continued. “Mason Herring pleaded guilty to charges of injury to a child and assault of a pregnant person in February and was sentenced to 180 days in jail.”
If Landry signs the bill as expected, it would make Louisiana arguably the most pro-life state in the nation. The state currently has a pro-life law in effect that protects almost all unborn children.
Louisiana is the southern state that has by far the largest percentage of Catholic residents, owing to its large Cajun and Creole communities. Around a quarter of the state’s population are self-identified Catholics.
