Challenge to Louisiana law that lists abortion pills as controlled dangerous substances can proceed

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By SARA CLINE
Updated 12:46 PM CDT, May 15, 2025

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A legal challenge against a first-of-its-kind measure that recategorized two widely used abortion -inducing drugs as “controlled dangerous substances” in Louisiana can move forward, a judge ruled Thursday.

Baton Rouge-based Judge Jewel Welch denied the Louisiana Attorney General’s request to dismiss a lawsuit filed last year by opponents of the law, who argue that the reclassification of the pills is unconstitutional and could cause needless and potentially life-threatening delays in treatment during medical emergencies.

Attorneys for defendants in the suit, including Attorney General Liz Murrill, argued that the lawsuit was premature. But attorneys for the plaintiffs, who include a doctor and pharmacist, said that since the law took effect in October, the measure has impacted how the plaintiffs handle and obtain the drugs on a “regular basis.”

A hearing date for the challenge has not yet been set.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/louisiana-abortion-pill-misoprostol-mifepristone-4bc1ec4d1b7dfdf00b82c283ed8b7118

[jmowreader]

1. While the Louisiana government will probably get what they want, they shouldn't

How drugs are placed in controlled-substance schedules are by looking at two things: whether the drug has accepted medical uses, and its potential for abuse.

In other words, "can this drug be used to treat disease, and can you get high from it?"

The two drugs used in medication abortions are mifepristone and misoprostol, neither of which you can get high on. So, the whole challenge fails right there.

Mifepristone, the drug they have the biggest case of the ass about, is used to treat Cushing Syndrome (hypercortisolism). They sell it as Korlym for this very purpose.

Misoprostol is used to treat gastric ulcers, and also has several uses not involving abortion in the OB-GYN field. For instance, they use it to induce labor.

So, if the drugs can be used in medical settings for other things than abortion and you can't get high on them, they can't be controlled substances.