Elected officials in the conservative state of Louisiana, in the southern United States, on Thursday definitively approved a bill criminalizing the possession of abortion pills without a prescription.
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The text, passed by the Louisiana Senate and House, classifies abortion pills as dangerous substances, a first in the country.
It is expected to be signed into law by Republican Governor Jeff Landry.
US President Joe Biden called the decision “scandalous”, adding that “this is a frightening time for women across America”.
“If Donald Trump returns to power, he will try to transform what is happening in states like Louisiana into a reality on a national scale,” criticized the president, while abortion is one of the key themes of the campaign for the November presidential election, which will pit Democratic President Joe Biden against his Republican rival Donald Trump.
The bill puts mifepristone and misoprostol, widely used for abortion, on the same level as Valium and Xanax.
Possession of these pills without a prescription would be punishable by jail time and several thousand dollars in fines.
Licensed doctors would be exempt from prosecution, as would pregnant women if they possessed the drug for their own use.
Vice President Kamala Harris called the legislation “unconscionable” on Tuesday.
“Let’s be clear: it’s because of Donald Trump,” she also added. The former president was the architect of the Supreme Court’s reversal on abortion in 2022, following which many states banned or restricted the right to abortion.
Louisiana thus prohibits almost all abortions.
The Supreme Court examined a case related to mifepristone in March, and most of its judges appeared resistant to reinstating restrictions on access to this pill.
A decision is expected by the end of June.
