The Biden administration is blaming former President Donald Trump for a proposed law that would criminalize the possession of two abortion medications in Louisiana, an unprecedented move officials said could be copied in other states.
The bill was passed by the Louisiana Senate Thursday, 29-7. It now head to the desk of Gov. Jeff Landry, who is expected to sign it into law.
On Tuesday, after the Louisiana House voted 64-29 to advance Senate Bill 276, Vice President Kamala Harris called it “unconscionable” on social media site X. “Let’s be clear: Donald Trump did this,” she wrote.
And in a call with reporters Wednesday, former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, the Biden-Harris 2024 campaign co-chair, also blamed Trump for the bill, which creates the crime of “coerced abortion by means of fraud” and also penalizes anyone in possession of the drugs without a valid prescription with up to ten years in jail. Pregnant women are exempt.
“A vote for Trump is a vote to bring what's happening in Louisiana nationwide,” said Landrieu.
Harris has made similar recent statements about other states' moves to restrict abortion access. She has specifically highlighted Trump's work to appoint a conservative majority to the Supreme Court, which in 2022 overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling that granted a constitutional right to abortion.
Louisiana's proposed law is based on the experience of the sister of a Louisiana senator whose husband spiked her drink with an abortion drug without her knowledge. Under the amendment, crafted with the input of anti-abortion group Louisiana Right to Life, mifepristone and misoprostol would become Schedule IV drugs under Louisiana’s Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances law. If the bill passes, Louisiana could be the first state in the country to criminalize those drugs.
Misoprostol is also used to treat ulcers, to stop hemorrhaging in pregnant and postpartum women and to treat miscarriages.
The proposal has alarmed physicians, who say it will create hurdles to getting the medications for legal purposes. It will also make it easier to track patients and prescribing physicians, they say. Supporters of the bill, meanwhile, say abortion pills are too widely available and are being abused, and that the amendment would not stop doctors from prescribing them for legitimate reasons.
Abortion rights have become a rallying point for the Biden campaign.
“What's happening right here in Louisiana is just one example of this dystopian agenda that Trump and his allies are pushing,” said Landrieu. “They are going to fight like hell to restore protections of Roe versus Wade, and they will never allow a national abortion ban to become law.”
In response, the bill's author Sen. Thomas Pressly, R-Shreveport, and Gov. Jeff Landry said Harris’ statement was misleading, adding that the bill allows for possession with a valid prescription and “protects expectant mothers.”
This story has been updated.
