September 30, 2024

Statement from Jennifer Driver, Senior Director of Reproductive Rights, SiX Reproductive Freedom Leadership Council, on Louisiana’s controlled dangerous substances law set to take effect on October 1 and the implications in state and beyond 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 30, 2024

Contact: six@conwaystrategic.com 

“Every time we think anti-abortion politicians have reached the bottom; they go even lower.  

Extremist politicians in Louisiana have chosen to delay time-sensitive, life-saving care by classifying medications routinely used in abortion care and miscarriage treatment as controlled dangerous substances. This is yet another example of anti-abortion politicians putting their beliefs over our lives and controlling the health care decisions that should be left to individuals and their doctors.  

While it’s impossible to fully grasp the damage this law will do, we know that hospitals are already deeply concerned about the implications this will have on their ability to save lives. They’re running timed drills to make sure staff can get to the locked medicine cabinets where these medications must now be stored. In a state with one of the country’s highest maternal mortality rates, minutes can mean the difference between life and death, which became all too clear just weeks ago when we learned of the deaths of Amber Thurman and Candi Miller in Georgia due to confusion and chaos created by their state’s abortion ban.

Louisiana's law is no different. It will exacerbate fears of jail time not only for doctors who provide care, but also criminalization and surveillance of patients who need care. Concerns about investigations and punishment already loom large over the heads of people seeking abortion care. This new layer of medically unnecessary and highly intense scrutiny will make it scarier and cause greater hesitation for those who are already highly surveilled, including people of color, those working to make ends meet,  and undocumented people. In short, this law, like all other abortion bans, will do nothing to make people safer, in fact, evidence shows that barriers and restrictions only make maternal health outcomes worse.  

Louisiana is the first state to enact such a law, but make no mistake, the laws and their impact will not stop there. All too often, anti-abortion legislation that’s hatched in one state spreads to others. It is the anti-abortion playbook. That’s why our fight for abortion rights at the state level is so crucial.  

In state legislatures across the country, we must continue to boldly and loudly advocate for policies that protect our communities and improve their health and well-being, not restrictions that tie the hands of doctors and intimidate patients, their families and loved ones.” 

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