(Image via cnn.com)
Staff Writer: Gwen Pichette
Email: gpichette@umassd.edu
Virtually everyone has heard of controlled substances before or medication whose use is strictly regulated by the government.
Traditionally, this would include drugs like opiates, heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine—in other words, all highly addictive drugs that are controlled for safety purposes.
Well, in the state of Louisiana, you can now add contraceptives (birth control) to that list.
In a shocking turn of events, the contraceptives mifepristone and misoprostol are being reclassified as “controlled and dangerous substances” under a Louisiana bill, making it impossible for doctors and women to obtain them unless prescribed in limited cases.
They are classified as Schedule Level IV drugs, which puts them in the same category as narcotics and stimulants like Valium and Xanax, known for being extremely addictive.
Except contraceptives are not at all addictive.
In fact, they are considered to be extremely safe and are widely prescribed.
A signed letter from hundreds of outraged Louisiana physicians and medical students to the senator agreed and questioned the validity of the bill, claiming that “neither mifepristone nor misoprostol have been shown to have any potential for abuse, dependence, public health risk, nor high rates of adverse side effects.”
The bill’s passing would merely create a harmful and “false perception that these are dangerous drugs that require additional regulation.”
This comes two years after the overturning of the landmark case Roe V. Wade that legalized abortion back in 1973, which has since triggered similar restrictions.
This restriction on contraceptives is opening the door for other red states to follow suit.
Concerns are also rising because of the fact that these drugs aren’t only used to induce abortion but are used to treat countless other conditions—some of which are life-threatening.
These conditions include miscarriages, medically inducing labor, and aiding in cervical preparation for surgical procedures. Most alarmingly, these contraceptives are often used to stop postpartum hemorrhaging—a problem that occurs in a total of 5% of pregnancies.
The director of the New Orleans Health Department, Dr. Jennifer Avegno, is extremely concerned for the future of women’s health. While typically, during labor Misoprostol is kept directly by the patient’s bedside, under this new law, the medication is required to be locked away in a cabinet.
It requires a code only the nurses will have access to, and in some hospitals, it could even be located on an entirely different floor. This rule could waste precious minutes in cases of an emergency, according to Avengo:
“Even if that adds a few minutes — which it will — in the setting of a life-threatening hemorrhage, minutes are really important,” Avegno said. “We already have a maternal health crisis in Louisiana, as we do in the rest of America. This will not make it better.”
The maternal health crisis Avegno is referring to is the fact that Louisiana has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country. Additionally, since the overturning of Roe., Louisiana has completely banned abortion with no exceptions for rape or incest.
Will this number continue to rise?
The criminalization of these contraceptives is a worry weighing heavy on the minds of both doctors and desperate women as well.
The possession of these contraceptives under this bill without a prescription is punishable by up to five years in prison, a fine of $5,000, and a felony charge.
For doctors, the charges are far worse.
Any intent to assist an abortion, including through medication, is punishable by up to 15 years of prison and a fine of up to a whopping $200,000, along with a loss of their medical license.
The bill was proposed back in the Spring of 2024 and was officially signed into law just earlier this month on October 1st.
This came after Louisiana Senator Thomas Pressly drew up the bill after being personally impacted by easy access to contraceptives.
His sister’s husband reportedly put contraceptives into her drink without her consent or knowledge, terminating her pregnancy. He has been charged with injury to a child and assault of a pregnant person.
Pressly alleges that this bill “will protect women like his sister for years to come.”
Yet pro-choice activists are outraged, as this appears to be an isolated incident, and they believe this will only bar women from getting the care they need instead of protecting them.
Democratic Louisiana Senator Royce Duplessis, who voted against the bill, believes that it is extremely dangerous for women and not rooted in logic.
“The bill is too far-reaching. We have not properly vetted this with the health care community, and I believe it’s going to lead to harm further down the road. There’s a reason that we rank at the bottom in terms of health care. There’s a reason we rank at the bottom in terms of maternal health outcomes for women in this state. To stand here and suggest that there will be no difference in access for these drugs is just not reality,” he said.
As the final stretch of the presidential election approaches, restrictions like these are predicted to impact votes—especially those of younger women significantly.