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A Texas Republican lawmaker is hoping to follow Louisiana’s example in introducing a bill that would reclassify abortion pills as controlled substances.

Texas Rep. Pat Curry’s (R) bill introduced in November, House Bill 1339, would classify two abortion drugs, mifepristone and misoprostol, as Schedule IV substances, which is in the same category as drugs that are useful but have potentials for abuse, like Xanax or Valium. He told the Texas Tribune the bill is supposed to make it harder for women, especially minors, to obtain abortion pills online and without a prescription. 

“You can lie about your age, you can lie about your name, you can lie about your address, there’s no verification whatsoever,” he said, referring to online abortion pill prescribers. “And it gets shipped to a 15-year-old girl, a 13-year-old girl.”

In Texas, abortion is almost entirely restricted, except for the life of the mother or serious injury. Texas also outlawed mailing abortion pills in the state, however, many online pharmacies either operate outside the U.S. or are in blue states covered by “shield laws” that legally protect health care providers who prescribe and mail abortion pills into states with pro-life laws. 

Curry told the outlet that the bill would not stop doctors from prescribing the medications when necessary (the drugs can have other uses, including in miscarriage care) but would stop “wide misuse” of the drugs that circumvents the state’s abortion restriction. 

Curry additionally said he consulted with OB/GYNs in the state, as well as the author of a similar law in Louisiana, which was passed in May of this year and is the first of its kind in the nation. He also accused those who criticize the bill, saying that they are raising concerns as a “smokescreen” because they are against abortion restrictions altogether. 

“I understand that. We don’t need or want all kinds of regulations,” he said. “Especially as Republicans, regulations should not be high on our list, but in this case it’s a necessary evil given the situation.”

The similar Louisiana bill, SB 276, reclassified the abortion drugs and also criminalized the act of poisoning unsuspecting pregnant women with abortion drugs. 

The law makes it illegal for people to possess abortion drugs without a prescription in Louisiana, a state which outlaws all abortions except to save a pregnant woman’s life, to prevent a serious adverse health risk, or if the baby is not expected to survive the pregnancy.

Anyone found guilty of being in possession on abortion pills without a valid prescription could face up to five years in prison. Pregnant women themselves are exempted from the law, and the law makes an exception for the use of the same medications for non-abortion reasons.

Sen. Thomas Pressly (R) introduced the bill after his pregnant sister’s husband in Texas secretly tried to abort her baby multiple times using abortion pills. The man, Mason Herring, ultimately pleaded guilty to injuring a child and the assault of a pregnant person and was sentenced to six months in jail after reaching a plea deal with the district attorney, the Shreveport Times reported.

“I do not believe that 180 days is justice for attempting to kill your child seven separate times,” Pressly’s sister Catherine Herring told the Associated Press (AP) at the time. 

Herring was ultimately able to save her baby girl through the medical abortion reversal process — a process which Democrats are currently targeting around the country — though her daughter now suffers some adverse conditions from being born ten weeks prematurely, according to the report.

“I’m very grateful my niece and sister survived this incredibly cruel crime, but I want to make sure other women don’t have to go through this,” Pressly told USA Today Network.

“It’s clear to me that six months in jail isn’t punishment enough for committing this crime,” Pressly said. “Our family doesn’t believe justice was served in my sister’s case.”

The Louisiana law is currently in effect, although a legal challenge brought by some health care providers has been filed. 

As for Curry’s proposed bill in Texas, Pressly and Herring have offered to testify in support of it this session, according to the Tribune. Curry said he anticipates wide support from fellow Republicans.

Medication abortions notably accounted for 63 percent of all abortions in the United States in 2023, up from 53 percent in 2020, according to the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute.

Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.