Doctors are now also required to put in a physician’s order before obtaining the drugs and specify the reason for the prescription, rather than documenting this information afterward, a change that wastes precious time. Some staff did timed drills in advance of October 1 to see how long it would take them to retrieve misoprostol and bring it back to a patient room. As the clock ticks, hemorrhaging patients lose more blood. As Jennifer Avegno, director of the New Orleans Health Department, told the Washington Post: “Most patients would likely make it. But I’ve seen myself what can happen when someone is bleeding out from a miscarriage. And a few minutes could mean life and death in some cases.” If the law does worsen death rates, it could be a while before the public knows because of how maternal mortality review committees work, Sukhavasi said. (Thurman and Miller died in 2022.)
The Louisiana Abortion Pill Law Puts More Women At Risk
