Louisiana governor signs bill to classify abortion pills as controlled substances into law

Washington — Louisiana became the first state to classify two abortion-inducing medications as controlled substances, making possession of the pills without a prescription a crime. 

Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican, signed legislation that reclassifies misoprostol and mifepristone — a two-step regimen used to terminate early pregnancies — as Schedule IV drugs into law on Friday after it passed the state legislature earlier this week. 

The measure puts the drugs in the same category as opioids, depressants and other drugs that can be addictive, making them harder to obtain. Misoprostol and mifepristone are not classified as controlled substances by the federal government and can be used separately to treat other conditions.