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Governor Landry signs bill listing abortion pills as controlled substances
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BATON ROUGE - Gov. Jeff Landry signed a bill into law Friday that would require two pills used in abortions to be obtained through a prescription.
The first-in-the-nation bill, SB276, also creates the crime of coerced criminal abortion by means of fraud to prohibit a third-party from knowingly using an abortion-inducing drug to cause, or attempt to cause, an abortion on an unsuspecting pregnant mother without her knowledge or consent.
The bill, introduced by Sen. Thomas Pressly, targeted attempts to induce abortions in unsuspecting women. The bill was amended to list misoprostol and mifepristone as Schedule IV controlled substances. The drugs are listed in the same category as Xanax.
Pressly, a Republican from Shreveport, had said his ex-brother-in-law slipped an abortion-inducing drug into his sister's drink without her knowledge. The woman gave birth 10 weeks early. The man was sentenced to a half-year in jail, according to The Associated Press.
“Requiring an abortion inducing drug to be obtained with a prescription and criminalizing the use of an abortion drug on an unsuspecting mother is nothing short of common-sense," Landry said. "This bill protects women across Louisiana and I was proud to sign this bill into law today."
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