House amendment adds “abortion inducing drugs” to anti-drug trafficking law
Rep. Celeste Hurst (R) speaks in support of HB 2 earlier in the 2026 legislative session. Wednesady, she introduced an amendment to include abortion inducing drugs to HB 1613, which was adopted. (Photo by Jeremy Pittari | Magnolia Tribune)
- “Those drugs are now being shipped into our state without any doctor oversight,” State Rep. Celeste Hurst stated.
Abortion inducing drugs were added through an amendment to an anti-drug trafficking enforcement bill in the Mississippi House on Wednesday, leading to vocal opposition that forced Speaker Jason White (R) to call for order in the chamber.
The original bill – HB 1613 – sought to make changes to legislation from 2014 that lacked dosage units in the state’s criminalization of aggravated drug trafficking. House Judiciary B Committee Chairman State Rep. Kevin Horan (R) said the dosage units were inadvertently left out of the previous bill, leading to the need to define the amount.
His bill defined that amount as 200 grams or dosage units. Horan added that the Senate has a companion bill with a similar intent, but it sets the amount at 267 dosage units or grams.
“I don’t know why they put 267 in it, but our amount is 200 grams,” Horan said.
Prior to passage of the bill, State Rep. Celeste Hurst (R) introduced an amendment that added “abortion inducing drugs” to the bill.
“So, that creating, distributing, dispensing, prescribing, or possessing with intent, is treated like other illegal drug content with a clear penalty,” Hurst stated, as outlined in the amendment.
She added that her amendment pertains to improper usage of a drug with the intent to terminate a “clinically diagnosable pregnancy “of a woman to cause the death of the unborn child.
The abortion inducing drugs in question, as Hurst described, are typically used for women who have recently suffered a miscarriage and is only given under the care of a physician. Hurst said her amendment aims to protect those women from harm by not allowing those drugs to be shipped to them.
“Because it is damaging to women when not under the care of a physician,” Hurst said. “Those drugs are now being shipped into our state without any doctor oversight. And in Mississippi, it is illegal to give those drugs to a patient without physician oversight.”
When asked the name of the drug, Hurst said the amendment does not list a specific drug but relates to drugs provided by physicians to assist in the death of the fetus after a female patient has suffered a miscarriage.
Rep. Hurst added that the amendment does not relate to drugs known as “Plan B” medications, which are used by women to prevent a pregnancy after unprotected sex.
After Horan said he had no objection to the amendment, jeers could be heard from a number of representatives in the chamber.
Horan then called for final passage of the bill and yielded the podium, which meant he would not no longer entertain further interrogation on the bill, leading to more jeers from certain House members. The vocal opposition to the move prompted Speaker White to gavel for order.
“I see the button pushed, but I will maintain order or I’ll have you escorted out of the chamber. Do you understand?” White said. A member could be heard saying, “No.”
“Raise your voice again you’ll be escorted out,” White said, eyeing a member to his right. “I hadn’t passed over a single person who has sought recognition in this chamber in two-and-a-half years.”
The bill then passed the House with a vote of 77 to 39, mostly down party lines with Republicans backing the legislation and Democrats opposing it. It was later held on a motion to reconsider.
