Sperry: Reproduction crackdown continues with Louisiana law

On Oct. 1, a Louisiana law will go into effect classifying the drug misoprostol a dangerous controlled substance. It is used for routine reproductive care, specifically to treat postpartum hemorrhaging, and for abortions in combination with mifepristone. The World Health Organization considers it an essential medication to meet health care systems’ important needs. Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed a law reclassifying it as a dangerous controlled substance. The drug will not be easily available for obstetric hemorrhaging, increasing the likelihood that a patient could bleed to death while waiting for it, bottom line. (Source: Heather Cox Richardson, Sept. 3.)

In 2000, the Food and Drug Administration approved misoprostol to prevent ulcers in the stomach linings of those taking certain arthritis or pain medications. Off-label, it is used for postpartum hemorrhaging, hysteroscopies, miscarriages and endometrial biopsies. Given its low cost and ease of use, it has the potential to improve women’s health worldwide. (Source: “Use of Misoprostol in Obstetrics and Gynecology,” summer 2009.)

This is just one more attempt to reduce a woman’s ability to get essential reproductive health care. Stay tuned: more coming.

Julia Sperry

Hockessin

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