The bill, known as "The Catherine and Josephine Herring Act," introduces significant changes to Louisiana's laws regarding abortion and related substances. It establishes the crime of "coerced criminal abortion by means of fraud," which occurs when an individual uses abortion-inducing drugs on a pregnant woman without her knowledge or consent, with penalties ranging from five to twenty years of hard labor and substantial fines depending on the gestational age of the unborn child. Additionally, the bill amends the definition of "abortion" to include the potential death of the unborn child, regardless of survival, and adds the substances mifepristone and misoprostol to Schedule IV of the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Law.

Furthermore, the bill clarifies that it is not a violation for a pregnant woman to possess mifepristone or misoprostol for her own consumption. It also expands the definition of racketeering activity to include criminal abortion by means of abortion-inducing drugs. The act is set to take effect on October 1, 2024, and mandates that the Louisiana Board of Pharmacy and the Department of Health inform pharmacists and healthcare providers about the new provisions regarding the prescription and administration of these drugs.

Statutes affected:
SB276 Original: 14:7(A), 14:8(A), 14:9(A)
SB276 Engrossed: 14:7(A), 14:8(A), 14:9(A)
SB276 Enrolled: 14:1(1)
SB276 Act : 14:1(1)