Starting Oct. 1, a Louisiana law will classify drugs used for abortion — mifepristone and misoprostol — as controlled substances, requiring hospitals to store them in locked cabinets, The Washington Post reported Sept. 17.
The change has led to timed drills at hospitals to prepare for the new storage requirements, and healthcare professionals expressed concern that the delay could delay access to critical treatments. Pharmacists told the Post there will be more calls back and forth between busy physicians' offices, and all pharmacies will have to report "eligible prescription transactions" to the state's Prescription Monitoring Program.
The law, unprecedented in the U.S., places mifepristone and misoprostol alongside opioids and other controlled substances.
The legislation is a part of a broader push to restrict abortion access in Louisiana, the report said.