BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana’s new law classifying two widely used abortion drugs as “controlled dangerous substances” was challenged Thursday in a state court lawsuit by a doctor, a pharmacist and others who say the legislation establishes unnecessary and dangerous delays. in treatment during medical emergencies.

Although there was already a near-total ban on abortion in Louisiana, even through medication, the reclassification of the drugs (mifepristone and misoprostol, which have other critical uses for reproductive health) went into effect earlier this month. Supporters of the law said more oversight and control over medications was needed to prevent forced abortions. They have given as an example a case from Texas in which a pregnant woman was given seven misoprostol pills by her husband without her knowing. The baby survived.

Doctors criticizing the law have said it could harm patients facing emergency complications, such as postpartum hemorrhage, by requiring medical staff to follow additional steps and stricter storage requirements to use medications.

“Even brief delays in access to misoprostol can endanger the lives of patients with postpartum hemorrhage,” the lawsuit says. It says the law violates the Louisiana Constitution in multiple ways, including prohibiting discrimination based on a person’s physical condition.

Louisiana Attorney General Elizabeth Murrill said she had not seen the lawsuit as of Thursday afternoon. “I cannot respond to a lawsuit we have not seen, but I am confident that this law is constitutional,” he said in a statement. “We will defend it vigorously.”

In addition to the doctor and pharmacist, who the lawsuit claims is pregnant, plaintiffs in the case include the Birthmark Doula Collective, an organization of people trained to provide pregnancy care before, during and after childbirth.

Other plaintiffs include Nancy Davis, a woman who was denied an abortion in Louisiana and traveled out of state to get one after learning her fetus would not survive. A woman who said she was turned away from two emergency rooms instead of receiving treatment for a miscarriage is also part of the lawsuit.

Before the reclassification, a prescription was still needed to obtain mifepristone and misoprostol in Louisiana. The new law reclassified the pills as “Schedule IV drugs,” putting them in the same category as the opioid tramadol and other substances that can be addictive.

The new classification means that if someone knowingly possesses mifepristone or misoprostol without a valid prescription for any purpose, they could be fined up to $5,000 and sent to prison for one to five years.

The law establishes protections for pregnant women who obtain the medication without a prescription to take it themselves.

The legislation is the first of its kind in the United States. While Republican Gov. Jeff Landry, many Republican lawmakers and anti-abortion groups have touted the new classification, doctors have warned of deadly delays the law could cause.

Under the new classification, doctors say there are additional steps and stricter storage requirements, which could slow access to medications in emergency situations. Beyond inducing abortions, the pills are also used to treat miscarriages, induce labor, and stop bleeding.

Before the law, some doctors said misoprostol would be kept in a box in the hospital room, on the delivery table or in a nurse’s pocket. But under new triage requirements, medications can be down the hall in a locked container or potentially in an in-house pharmacy at smaller hospitals.

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McGill reported from New Orleans.

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