Louisiana
Louisiana votes to make abortion pills controlled substances
Louisiana has become the first state to pass a law that designates abortion pills as dangerous controlled substances.
Once Gov. Jeff Landry signs the bill into law, as he is expected to do, possession of the drugs mifepristone and misoprostol without a prescription would be a crime punishable with possible fines and jail time.
Louisiana already has a near-total abortion ban, so the medications, which are also used for miscarriages and ulcers, are only available in that state under limited circumstances.
Medical experts warned of the bill’s dangers.
“What it’s going to do is make it harder to use these drugs safely and legally,” Dr. Jennifer Avegno, director of the New Orleans Health Department and organizer of a letter opposing the bill, told the New York Times. “It’s going to create confusion, fear, barriers to using these drugs for all of their non-abortion indications.”
But Republicans and the anti-abortion groups have claimed that abortion rights groups of creating unnecessary fear over the legislation, the Times reported.
“This legislation does NOT prohibit these drugs from being prescribed and dispensed in Louisiana for legal and legitimate reasons,” State Attorney General Liz Murrill posted on social media.
Abortion opponents have argued that abortion pills are unsafe, making that claim in a lawsuit before the U.S. Supreme Court that seeks to curtail access to mifepristone, the first pill in the two-drug medication abortion regimen that now accounts for nearly two-thirds of abortions in the United States.
Many patients who live in Louisiana or other states with abortion bans have traveled to states where abortion remains legal to get medical care, or they have received prescriptions and pills from doctors and nurses in other states under shield laws. Those methods of getting abortions are unlikely to be affected by the new bill, the Times reported.
David Cohen, a law professor at Drexel University in Philadelphia, told the Times that a relatively small number of people might be vulnerable to penalties under the bill, including volunteers who help provide nonprescription pills to some communities and women who order abortion pills as protection in case they get pregnant.
“It may make some people think twice, and it may expose some people to criminal prosecution who right now are not exposed,” he said. But, “this is not going to stop people in Louisiana from getting and using abortion pills,” he noted.
Still, Michelle Erenberg, executive director of Lift Louisiana, a reproductive rights organization, said abortion rights groups would explore a legal challenge to the bill.
“I definitely have concerns about this being replicated in other states,” she told the Times.
More information:
KFF has more on the abortion pill.
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MONDAY
RED STICK FLY FISHERS PROGRAM: 7 p.m., Bluebonnet Regional Library, 9200 Bluebonnet Blvd., Baton Rouge. Open to the public. Email Brian Roberts: roberts.brian84@gmail.com. Website: rsff.org
WEDNESDAY
FLIES & FLIGHTS: 7-9 p.m, Rally Cap Brewing, 11212 Pennywood Ave., Baton Rouge. Casual fly tying. Open to public. Email Chris Williams: thefatfingeredflytyer@gmail.com
THURSDAY
ACADIANA FLY RODDERS PROGRAM: 6 p.m., Pack and Paddle, 601 E. Pinhook, Lafayette. Open to public. Email Darin Lee: at cbrsandcdc@gmail.com. Website: acadianaflyrodders.org
FRIENDS OF NRA/SOUTHWEST LA BANQUET: 6 p.m., Riverside Bar & Grill, 3748 Louisiana 3059, Lake Charles. Call Brack Cole 337-912-1620. Email: jbcoleair@yahoo.com
ONGOING
STATEWIDE TOURNAMENT & ANGLERS RODEO/S.T.A.R.: Through Sept. 7, Coastal Conservation Association’s summer-long fishing event. Tagged redfish, coastal/offshore species categories & youth division. CCA membership required. Website: ccalouisiana.com/star
LOTTERY HUNTS
DOVE/TEAL: July 27 application deadline for dove hunt on Elbow Slough Wildlife Management Area and teal hunt on White Lake Wetlands Conservation Area. Website applications only on Wildlife & Fisheries/Louisiana Outdoors License, Permits and Tags webpage. Fee $8.50. Details: dove hunt, David Hayden at dhayden@wlf.la.gov; teal hunt, Lance Ardoin at lardoin@wlf.la.gov
AROUND THE CORNER
JULY 21 — LAFAYETTE KAYAK FISHING CLUB MEETING: 6 p.m., Pack and Paddle, 601 E. Pinhook, Lafayette. Call 337-232-5854. Website: lafayettekayakfishing.com
JULY 21-22 — GULF COUNCIL SHRIMP COMMITTEE MEETING: Gulf Council office, 4107 W. Spruce St., Tampa, Florida. In conjunction with Scientific and Statistical committees. Website: gulfcouncil.org
JULY 23 — ACADIANA BUGS & BREWS: 6 p.m., Pack and Paddle, 601 E. Pinhook, Lafayette. Casual fly tying and local beers provided. Open to the public. Email Darin Lee: cbrsandcdc@gmail.com. Website: packpaddle.com
JULY 23-25 — International Grand Isle Tarpon Rodeo, Grand Isle Marina & Otto Candies Pavilion, Grand Isle. Website: tarponrodeo.org
JULY 24-25—BASSMASTER JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP: Kentucky Lake, Paris, Tennessee. Website: bassmaster.com
JULY 26 — SOUTH LOUISIANA HIGHPOWER CLUB MATCH: 8:30 a.m., Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Range, St. Landry Road, Gonzales. NRA XTC & F-Class match rifle or service rifle, 200-yard/50-rounds match course. Fee $15 members, $20 nonmembers, $5 juniors. $25 annual club (first match free) and Civilian Marksmanship Program membership (allows purchases from CMP). Call Mike Burke, 337-380-8120. Email: SouthLAHighPower@hotmail.com
FISHING/SHRIMPING
SHRIMP: Spring inshore season closed except for Breton/Chandeleur sounds; all outside waters open.
OPEN RECREATIONAL SEASONS: Private recreational red snapper; gray triggerfish; flounder; lane, blackfin, queen and silk snappers and wenchmen among other snapper species; all groupers except closed for goliath and Nassau groupers in state/federal waters.
CLOSED SEASONS: Greater amberjack; bluefin tuna; gag, goliath and Nassau groupers in state/federal waters. Commercial greater amberjack season closed.
LDWF UPDATES
Closed: Roads on Pomme de Terre, Richard Yancey & Bogue Chitto WMAs (flooding)
Drawdowns: Saline Lake (Natchitoches/Winn parishes through Oct. 5); Iatt Lake (Grant Parish through Oct. 5).
Louisiana State Police reported an Ascension Parish resident died in a fatal crash in Livingston Parish.
According to an LSP Troop A news release, 68-year-old Gwendolyn Blank of St. Amant died in the two-vehicle crash along Highway 1032 near Debbie Lane around 3:30 p.m. July 11.
Per the release, the preliminary investigation found that a 2016 Toyota Avalon was traveling south on the highway when, at the same time, a 2023 Dodge Ram was traveling northbound.
For reasons still under investigation, the Toyota crossed the center line in a left-hand curve and collided head-on with the truck, troopers reported in the realease.
Blank, who was the front seat passenger in the car, sustained serious injuries and was transported to a hospital, where she later died, according to LSP.
Troopers reported the driver of the car sustained moderate injuries, and a juvenile rear-seat passenger had minor injuries, while the driver of the truck received minor injuries.
CATAHOULA PARISH, La. (KALB) – Judge John Reeves, who serves the 7th Judicial District Court in Catahoula and Concordia parishes, pleaded guilty in a Judiciary Commission investigation to having engaged in misconduct in his actions at the judge’s bench.
The investigation, in conjunction with admissions of guilt by Reeves, found he:
- issued a legally deficient verbal order of visitation in a child custody case
- issued a legally deficient verbal search warrant in a criminal case
- allowed two members of his court staff to seek appointment as reserve deputies of the Catahoula Parish Sheriff’s Office
- failed to timely recuse himself in a criminal case and gave the appearance of bias
- failed to comply with the Code of Criminal Procedure in reducing, revoking, and subsequently reinstating the defendant’s bond in a criminal case.
The Louisiana Supreme Court issued an opinion on June 25 agreeing with the Commission’s findings.
In acceptance of Reeve’s admissions, his four-month suspension will last from August 31, through the end of his term in office on December 31, 2026.
In addition to the suspension, Reeves must pay $6,148 to the Judiciary Commission of Louisiana.
Read the opinion by clicking here.
Click here to report a typo. Please provide the title of the article in your email.
Copyright 2026 KALB. All rights reserved.
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