What to know about proposals to ban abortion pills and punish women who seek abortions
- Share via
Lawmakers in some states where abortion is already banned are seeking to explicitly bar abortion pills or take a step that most leading antiabortion groups oppose: punish women who seek to end their pregnancies.
It’s too early in some legislative sessions to know whether the measures will get serious consideration. But it does show that the policy debate continues to evolve following the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling that overturned Roe vs. Wade and opened the door to state bans on abortion.
Here’s a look at where things stand:
Some lawmakers target pills that are used in most abortions
Lawmakers in several states have introduced measures to classify the drugs mifepristone and misoprostol — which are used together in the majority of U.S. abortions — as controlled dangerous substances, making it a crime to possess them without prescriptions.
Louisiana last year became the first state to adopt such a law, despite concerns from doctors who contended that the restrictions would make it harder for them to access the drugs to perform life-saving procedures.
The measures have been introduced in states where Republicans control the government and where there are bans on abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with some exceptions.
The legislation has died or appears unlikely to advance in Indiana and Mississippi.
Elsewhere — including Idaho, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas — it’s too early to know whether they have a chance.
In Oklahoma, Gov. Kevin Stitt, a staunch opponent of abortion, has vowed to sign any antiabortion measure that comes to his desk.
And one scholar who follows abortion policy said that the bills can affect the debate even if they don’t pick up momentum.
“The more often that they’re introduced, the more normalized these sorts of bills and these sorts of concepts that they’re pushing become,” said Laura Hermer, a professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul, Minn.
The pill fight is roaring even without additional state laws
Authorities in two states with stringent abortion laws have targeted a New York doctor for allegedly sending abortion pills to patients in those states.
Last month, a Louisiana grand jury indicted Dr. Maggie Carpenter on charges of criminal abortion by means of abortion-inducing drugs, a felony. Texas Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton sued Carpenter in civil court under similar circumstances.
A New York doctor is indicted in Louisiana over allegations that she prescribed an abortion pill online in the state with a near-total abortion ban.
The legal actions set up a test of laws in some Democratic-controlled states, including New York, that seek to protect healthcare providers who use telehealth to prescribe and then mail abortion pills to patients in states where they’re banned. New York officials say they will not extradite the doctor to Louisiana.
Since Carpenter’s indictment, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a law that allows doctors to leave their names off prescription bottles for abortion pills as a way to further insulate them. Similar legislation has been introduced in Maine.
Some abortion foes are calling on President Trump to enforce an 1873 law to ban mailing medication or instruments used in the procedure, but he has not done so.
The attorneys general of Idaho, Kansas and Missouri are also suing in federal court to roll back federal approvals for mifepristone and bar prescriptions for it by telehealth.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says there is decades of evidence that mifepristone and misoprostol are safe and effective. The group cited a study showing that major adverse events such as significant infection and excessive blood loss occur in less than 0.32% of patients taking mifepristone for a medication abortion. Medical organizations say mifepristone’s safety compares to that of the over-the-counter pain medication ibuprofen.
There are attempts to punish women, though they rarely gain traction
Bills in several states would open the door to criminal charges against women who seek or obtain abortions on charges including murder.
That’s a step no state has taken so far, and which leading antiabortion groups such as Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and the National Right to Life Committee oppose.
Still, such bills have been introduced in Idaho and Indiana, where they’re unlikely to advance, and Oklahoma, North Dakota and South Carolina, where they’re all early in the legislative process.
South Carolina state Sen. Richard Cash, the sponsor of a bill introduced last week that allows for punishing people who obtain abortions, said he’s aware that national groups oppose that aspect of the legislation. But he disagrees.
“The bill does not single out women by any means,” he said in an interview. “The bill simply acknowledges that if the unborn child is a human being, anyone involved in killing that human being should be held accountable to the law.”
Mulvihill writes for the Associated Press. AP writers Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho; Kimberlee Kruesi in Nashville; Nadia Lathan in Austin, Texas; Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City; Laura Ungar in Louisville, Ky.; and Isabella Volmert in Lansing, Mich., contributed to this report.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
