Mississippi has banned the prescription and distribution of abortion-inducing drugs, one of the most common methods used to terminate a pregnancy in the United States, even in states with strong laws restricting abortion.

Mississippi’s Republican Governor Tate Reeves signed House Bill 1613 into law last week. The bill amends the state’s drug trafficking laws to make it illegal to sell, prescribe, or distribute an “abortion-inducing drug,” which is defined as “a medicine, drug or any other substance prescribed or dispensed with the intent of terminating the clinically diagnosable pregnancy of a woman to cause the death of the unborn child.”

Reeves’s approval of the measure follows its passage in the Republican-controlled State House of Representatives in a 77-39 vote and the Republican-controlled State Senate in a 36-14 vote.

Support for the legislation fell largely along party lines, with all opposition coming from Democrats and most support coming from Republicans. Two House Democrats and three Senate Democrats broke from their party to back the bill.

The legislation does not apply to the prescription of drugs for “the treatment of miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, fetal demise, induction of labor, and management of postpartum complications.”

Violators of the law, which is slated to take effect on July 1, will face a prison sentence ranging from one to 10 years. The measure also authorizes the Mississippi attorney general to bring civil action against anyone who violates the law, which could result in “declaratory or injunctive relief” as well as “civil penalties and costs.”

While Mississippi has some of the strongest pro-life protections in the country, women in pro-life states have still been able to access abortion drugs. A report released by the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute earlier this month found that 91,000 women living in states with strong abortion restrictions obtained the drug.

Human Coalition President Jeff Bradford said the state has taken “decisive action to protect the lives of babies and the health of women in their state.”

“The continuing threat of mail-order abortion pills being shipped into pro-life states has been one of the most urgent challenges facing the pro-life movement,” he insisted in a statement shared with The Christian Post.

“Abortion pills now cause [a] majority of abortion deaths nationwide, and out-of-state distributors have worked aggressively to circumvent protective state laws,” he added. “Mississippi’s new law is a critical step in closing those loopholes and affirming the state’s right to protect its residents. Human Coalition serves the women targeted and injured by the abortion industry. We have seen firsthand the physical and emotional harm that results from the dangerous legal status quo on abortion drugs.”

Abortion pills have become a major focus in the national abortion debate after restrictions on the drugs were relaxed during the Biden administration. Concerns about the safety of abortion pills have intensified in recent years, with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration conducting a safety review of mifepristone.

Pro-life advocates have accused the Trump administration of delaying the review for political purposes and urged the agency to reinstate a requirement that women visit a doctor in person before they can obtain abortion drugs.

The right-leaning think tank Ethics and Public Policy Center issued a report last year showing that 10.93% of women who took the abortion pill between 2017 and 2023 experienced adverse events, including hemorrhage, infection, hospitalization, ectopic pregnancy, transfusion, and sepsis.

A subsequent report from the Ethics and Public Policy Center, published last month, found that the percentage of women who experienced adverse events after taking the abortion pill increased to 11.50% from July 2020 to December 2023. For all but three of the months examined, the requirement that women see a doctor before obtaining the drug was not in effect.

Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post.

This article originally appeared in The Christian Post.