In Virginia, state lawmakers failed to reclassify abortion drugs after the general assembly passed four bills that require coverage for a wide range of contraception and contraceptive devices.
Olivia Turner, of the Virginia Society for Human Life, tells AFN one legal stumbling block is happening at the U.S. Supreme Court. The justices are weighing how the FDA should classify abortion pills, such as mifepristone, which are not basic contraception.
If the Virginia bills were allowed to become law, Turner says that new law would “open the door” to misusing mifepristone and even to skirt around parental consent laws to obtain the abortion drug.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin offered amendments to address the issue but they were defeated s he vetoed the legislation.
In the state of Louisiana, meanwhile, slipping an abortion pill into a pregnant woman's drink will soon be illegal if legislation becomes law as expected.
The bill was introduced by state Sen. Thomas Pressly, whose own pregnant sister was slipped the abortion drug in a drink by her then-husband who didn't want a third child. That happened in Texas, where the husband escaped with minimal charges.
Sarah Zagorski, of Louisiana Right to Life, tells AFN the child survived but has serious medical problems from the attempted abortion.
The bill introduced in Louisiana calls for severe penalties for misusing the abortion pills, either coercing a woman to take them or sneaking them into something she consumes. It also declares abortion pills to be a controlled substance.
“If it's involved in coercion, it depends on the gestation of the pregnancy,” Zagorski advises. “If it's past three months, for example, it's up to 10 years imprisonment.”
Gov. Jeff Landry is expected to sign the bill into law.
