Doctors in Louisiana sound alarm as criminalisation of abortion drug looms

Three weeks before a Louisiana law comes into force criminalising the possession of the common abortion drugs mifepristone and misoprostol, doctors are warning that restricting access to misoprostol could undo years of progress in reducing the state’s high maternal mortality.

Louisiana is the first state to make the two medicines controlled drugs, with criminal penalties of up to five years imprisonment for possession without a prescription. The law, passed in May and set to take effect on 1 October, seeks to clamp down on the mailing of abortion drugs from states where abortion is legal. Louisiana has a near total abortion ban, with exceptions only if the mother’s life is in danger.

Besides its role in medical abortions misoprostol is used in miscarriage treatment, labour induction, and intrauterine device insertion. It also has a crucial role in controlling postpartum bleeding, especially in patients with hypertension or asthma, and is often kept for emergency …