Controlled Substance or Access to Healthcare? 

Controlled Substance or Access to Healthcare? 

From the beginning of time to our current era, medical science has made tremendous advances.

There are now thousands of medicines and vaccines that cure diseases and ailments that destroyed entire civilizations. However, with new advancements comes new problems or concerns. What happens to people when life-saving medication becomes criminalized? 

Louisiana governor Jeff Landry signed Senate Bill 276 into law on [date] . The law now classifies using an abortion inducing drug as a crime of “coerced criminal abortion” (Pressly, 2024). Louisiana is the first state to classify abortion inducing medications as controlled substances. The bill was first introduced to the Louisiana legislature by Senator Thomas Pressly after his brother-in-law attempted to administer abortion inducing medication to terminate his sister’s pregnancy (Governor Hosts Bill Signing For Abortion By Fraud Act, 2017). The law further targets birthers by making it illegal to possess mifepristone and misoprostol for one's own consumption. 

Misoprostol and Mifepristone are both a part of a two step regimen that can be used to terminate early pregnancies. According to the Food Drug Administration (FDA), they are classified as safe to use (Yilek & Miller, 2024). There are several uses for Mifepristone and Misopostol, criminalizing these medications would affect not only abortion seeking people, but also those with a myriad of chronic conditions. For instance, Mifepristone can be used to increase the passing of pregnancy tissue from miscarriages. The medication can also be prescribed to block progesterone which is a hormone that prepares the uterus to respond to the contractions that are an effect of Misoprostol that is also taken.The FDA currently requires Mifepristone to be dispensed by a certified prescriber and experts say that the medication is “as safe as over the counter painkiller ibuprofen”(UNGAR, 2023). Additionally, mifepristone can be administered to monitor high blood sugar in patients with Cushing’s syndrome as well as those with type 2 diabetes (Mifepristone (Oral Route) Side Effects, 2024). Misoprostol can be administered to “prevent ulcers in people who take certain arthritis or pain medicines, including aspirin, that can cause ulcers”, this medication in particular adds protection to the stomach lining as well as the lowering of stomach acid secretion (Misoprostol, 2023). 

SB 276 places these medications under Schedule IV drugs making them harder to obtain. Over two hundred doctors in Louisiana have signed a letter to lawmakers advising against the bill since it could increase the already high maternal mortality rate in the state of Louisiana. The letter also highlights that the bill creates a “barrier to physicians’ ease of prescribing appropriate treatment” to their patients (CLINE, 2024). 

Louisiana has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country with 31.8% of 100,000 mothers dying in childbirth (Maternal Deaths and Mortality Rates by State for 2018-2020, 2021). In 2018, at least 22,800 women died from unsafe abortions in the United States (Falcon, 2022). Limiting the access to self managing abortion medications would only increase maternal mortality since birthing people would not have the ability to access this potentially life saving medication. Birthing people seeking abortions and self managing abortion medication are forced to travel outside of their home states to receive care. In addition, birthing people with limited access to transportation have no choice but to deliver their child. 

The legal ramifications surrounding SB 276 would disproportionately affect Black communities within Louisiana. Under SB 276, persons in possession of any abortion inducing drug, could be fined up to $5,000 or face imprisonment up to five years with the option of hard labor (Smith, 2024). Currently, Black people in Louisiana are incarcerated at a rate 3.5 times higher than White people. Additionally, in 2016, 86 women per 100,000 female residents in Louisiana were incarcerated (Kang-Brown, 2019). Both the number of women as well as the number of Black people within Louisiana are being incarcerated at a higher percentage. SB 276 could drastically increase Louisiana’s Black incarceration rate. 

The political climate surrounding medications that can be used to cause an abortion has been a hot topic around the nation. Particularly the recent U.S. Supreme Court case, where the court has the ability to support the FDA's approval of Mifepristone that would make SB276 unconstitutional. Additionally, SB 276 has created a precedent around the country and it is likely that more states will follow with similar legislation. 

SisterLove does not support SB 276 as it limits not only equitable access to healthcare but also supports the overcriminalization of Black communities. 

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