Louisiana lawmakers have passed a bill seeking to block out-of-state abortionists from shipping abortion pills to Louisiana residents.
The bill expands existing state laws that allow a woman to sue a doctor who helps her to abort her unborn child.
Women can now sue out-of-state providers, who through mailing, prescribing, or “coordinating the sale of” abortion pills enable an abortion in Louisiana, according to the Associated Press.
The bill now goes to Republican Gov. Jeff Landry for his signature.
The legislation, which attempts to regulate access to abortion pills, now heads to the desk of a conservative.
The bill came in response to a Louisiana case in which an abortionist in New York state sent abortion pills to a pregnant Louisiana minor, Attorney General Liz Murrill said.
That doctor was covered by a shield law in New York protecting abortionists from facing prosecutions in states which have regulated abortions for third-party providers.
Murrill called the law “another tool in the toolbox” to block out-of-state doctors who are “intent on violating our laws.”
“These are not doctors providing health care. They are drug dealers,” Murrill said, according to WWL-TV.
The state House version of the bill, sponsored by state Rep. Lauren Ventrella, a Republican, is titled the “Justice for Victims of Abortion Drug Dealers Act,” according to the Louisiana Illuminator.
“If doctors are going to come to our state and harm our people and our unborn children — who we do recognize as life — then they need to think twice about coming into our state,” Ventrella said, according to NOLA.com.
State Rep. Julie Emerson, another Republican, said Louisiana needs a vehicle to stop out-of-state providers from sending abortion pills into the state.
“When doctors and pharmacies realize that this is a thing in Louisiana and that they could be civilly liable, then they’ll stop sending them here,” she said.
Idaho, Oklahoma, and Texas have similar laws, according to the Associated Press.
State Sen. Rick Edmonds said the law is “a statement” that “these pills are not welcome” in Louisiana.
Louisiana only allows abortions conducted by third-party providers when there is a risk of death or impairment to the mother or if the unborn child is expected to have a fatal abnormality.
Doctors convicted of an illegal abortion could face 15 years in prison.
Possession of abortion pills without a prescription could result in a sentence of one to five years.
The abortion laws in Louisiana and other Republican-controlled states have nevertheless come under scrutiny for leaving loopholes allowing women to self-induce their own abortions.
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