A new bill targeting abortion-inducing drugs would reclassify them as controlled substances, further diminishing accessibility to reproductive healthcare in Texas.
The latest attack in the Republican-waged war against abortion access comes from Rep. Pat Curry of Waco. House Bill 1339 aims to categorize carisoprodol, mifepristone and misoprostol as Schedule IV drugs. The latter two are key components in medical abortions, one of the few remaining early-termination avenues available.
“Mifepristone and misoprostol are safe, effective medications that have been used for decades for a wide variety of reasons,” said Stella Dantas, president of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists (ACOG), in a press release, following passage of a similar law in Louisiana earlier this year.
The prescription for a medical abortion is a hormone-blocking agent followed by a drug that expels the fetus. The first pill, mifepristone, blocks progesterone and terminates an early-stage pregnancy. The second pill, misoprostol, taken 24 hours later, clears the uterine cavity, preventing risk of associated infections. The treatment is available only in the first seven weeks of pregnancy, by law, and requires a prescription.
This is just the latest in a string of legislative moves that have targeted women’s healthcare. The first monumental restriction was the Texas Heartbeat Act, SB 8, in 2021, which banned abortion after detection of a fetal heartbeat. Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which put abortion care in the hands of state governments in 2022, Texas lawmakers have continued to home in on reproductive health care.
“We promised that if Roe v. Wade was overturned, abortions would be banned in Texas,” said Gov. Greg Abbott in a speech at the 2023 Rally for Life. “It was overturned, and I signed a law that bans abortions in Texas. All of you are life savers, and thousands of newborn babies are the result of your heroic efforts.”
The Addictive Properties of Abortion Pills
Schedule IV drugs are substances accepted for medical use that have the potential for abuse. Examples of other drugs in the classification are heavily abused anti-anxiety medications like Xanax and Valium. Qualifying the drugs as Schedule IV substances is a stretch, according to doctors, who argue the drugs have zero risk of abuse.“It’s not something that you would normally expect to be in a locked up cabinet as a schedule controlled substance because it doesn’t have potential for abuse,” said Dr. Todd Ivey, a Houston based OBGYN and district officer for ACOG.
Per DEA regulations, all Schedule IV drugs are to be kept under lock and key. The added steps to administer the drugs pose huge threats to women in medical emergencies.
“Not having it readily available in a situation where seconds matter, not just minutes but seconds, is critically important,” said Ivey.
The Real Hazards
Reclassifying the drugs does little to reduce doctors’ ability to prescribe the medication in the case of elective abortions. Experts claim the real victims of the bill are women experiencing life-threatening symptoms associated with failed pregnancies. Misoprostol is frequently stocked on obstetric carts in the event of a life-threatening obstetric hemorrhage. It is a frontline defense in the face of emergency.“More critically, by scheduling mifepristone and misoprostol as controlled substances, legislators are creating barriers for clinicians in emergency situations in which a patient’s life or health could be at risk,” said ACOG’s statement.
Ivey explained that women in rural communities are the most at risk. Smaller hospitals with lesser equipped units will feel the heaviest impact of this change. A particular point of concern is that birthing centers that lack doctors or an operating pharmacy will have no access to the lifesaving drugs.
“We really want to do the right thing by women,” said Ivey. “We want to practice within the confines of the law.”
Rep. Curry told the Texas Tribune that the intent of the bill is to eliminate the potential for minors to receive medical abortions, describing the piece of legislation as a “necessary evil.” But doctors have emphasized the medical necessity of the pills.“These things get introduced because they’re looking at it through a narrow lens,” said Ivey. “There’s a lack of understanding at just how widely appreciated this medication actually is.”
The bill was pre-filed and will go to vote in the 89th legislative session, which begins Jan. 14 and runs through June 2. If approved, abortion-inducing drugs would become heavily monitored beginning Sept. 1, 2025.
“It’s all very concerning,” said Ivey. “I hope Representative Curry thinks about this, and understands, and will listen to us.”
