OLYMPIA, Wash. – Governor Jay Inslee (D) took a swipe at the Louisiana Legislature Thursday after the state’s Republican lawmakers passed a law classifying medication abortion drugs as dangerous substances.
SB 276, which has passed both chambers of the state’s legislature and will likely be signed by Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry (R), would place medication abortion drugs including Mifepristone on a list of dangerous substances like fentanyl.
According to the Washington State Department of Health (DOH), mifepristone is widely used in pregnancies before the 11 week mark.
“Mifepristone is a safe and effective drug that’s been used in medication abortions by millions of Americans for over 20 years,” DOH’s website states.
Medication abortion drugs can be accessed at clinics, mailed by healthcare providers and are available at some pharmacies according to DOH.
Inslee ordered the Washington Department of Corrections to purchase a stockpile of Mifepristone in July 2023 in anticipation of increased numbers of Idaho residents traveling across the stateline to receive reproductive healthcare. He touted that decision in a social media post Thursday.
“Louisiana is poised to criminalize the same safe abortion medication that we stockpiled in WA to protect patients’ right of choice. It’s not the medication that’s dangerous — it’s Republicans’ anti-choice ideology,” Inslee said.
Inslee did not elaborate on how the stockpile is being used, but did argue that governors have an outsized influence on abortion access in their respective states.
In the midst of the 2024 election cycle, former president Donald Trump has tried to walk a more moderate line on reproductive issues than during the 2020 election cycle before Roe v. Wade was repealed.
While Republicans were unified in their opposition to abortion before the 2022 US Supreme Court ruling, tensions in the party have emerged as to just how far restrictions should go now that there is not a federal right to abortion.
Democrats have attempted to exploit the current fissure over reproductive issues in the GOP with campaign advertising and messaging focusing on abortion rights. Republicans have hit back by highlighting the split amongst Democrats as to how to approach Israel’s war actions in Gaza.
Kaiser Family Foundation polling released in early March indicates that abortion and contraception are seen as a mobilizing topic for about half of Democratic voters. Whether Democrats will be able to make abortion a winning issue will ultimately be determined by the electorate in November.
