Liz Murill, Right to Life villainize the media, but victimize doctors and patients

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill and Gov. Jeff Landry hold a press conference on July 1, 2024, at the Denka neoprene plant in LaPlace to speak against a new EPA rule they say is unfair to the company. (Wes Muller/Louisiana Illuminator)

Louisiana's attorney general and the state's leading anti-abortion group were quick to claim "disinformation" in response to the Illuminator's recent reporting on a new law that will classify two vital pregnancy care drugs as controlled dangerous substances.

Attorney General Liz Murrill insists "there should be no delay in care" under the statute that takes effect Oct. 1, and that our coverage to that effect attempts " to sow confusion and doubt " and is " flatly incorrect. "

Louisiana Right to Life, a driving force behind the new law, labeled our reporting " a bogus & one-sided story " from a "far-left publication." The group went so far as to demand our news partners at WVUE-TV Fox 8 in New Orleans remove our story from their website and issue a correction for their own broadcast version of it.

We stand by our reporting, as does Fox 8.

This attack against the credibility of reporters is nothing new from the far right and its ongoing attempts to undermine trusted institutions. It's a staple of the Trump playbook, anytime their policy and blurring of the law is called into question.

Attacking journalists serves to distract others from the very real fact that these laws will put people's lives in danger — doctors are telling us this. It would not be good PR to harass health care professionals, so politicians instead go after reporters.

But screaming "disinformation" and accusing the news media of having an agenda will not silence us. As journalists, we have thick skin and are prepared to endure far worse baseless attacks. The facts will defend us time and again.

What's more worrisome than any criticism we face is Murrill's continued dismissal of concerns from doctors and other providers. They have said and we have reported – over and over again – that this new law will complicate their efforts to administer live-saving care.

Rather than take the time for clarifications or addressing weaknesses in state health policy, Murill and anti-abortion forces have told doctors, in essence, you're wrong. And to add the potential for more injury to insult, they insist pregnant people absolutely have no reason to fear that life-saving medications won't be easily accessible should the need arise.

Except that the professionals who provide that care are telling us — repeatedly — they're not confident it will. Even the state's own medical director for perinatal care, who's also a practicing OB-GYN, has expressed grave doubts. She's the expert officials are supposed to turn to for guidance on best practices.

"I now have to worry about laws that are created that interfere with my ability to give my patient the best care. Where does this end?" Dr.Veronica Gillispie-Bell told WWNO-FM . "And I think the real answer to that question is there is no place that it ends, and that is very scary."

Through our latest reporting, we've learned that one New Orleans-area hospital is already conducting drills to ensure they will be able to provide misoprostol — soon-to-be a Schedule IV drug that will require locked, secure storage and monitored — in a timely fashion. That means literally sprinting, from delivery rooms to to those medicine cabinets, practicing for the inevitable.

So far, they've struggled.

Also, at least one New Orleans-area hospital has removed misoprostol from the hemorrhage carts it uses in labor and delivery rooms. If the new law doesn't require this step to be taken, as the attorney general maintains, then why is it happening?

For starters, state officials haven't provided the detailed explanations they claim they have. The Louisiana Department of Health issued its guidance on the new law earlier this month, but several doctors who spoke with the Illuminator said it did little to relieve their concerns.

The health department memo urges doctors to seek further guidance from their lawyers, which on its own is troublesome because lawyers are not typically medical experts – as is apparent from our attorney general's sensitivity to our reporting.

Besides, not all physicians have quick or reliable access to attorneys, especially during the throes of a postnatal emergency.

Murrill continues to insist the information from the health department answers doctors' questions, with Louisiana Right to Life echoing the same. The end result is that there's little confidence our state leaders will offer workable solutions to health care professionals or, heaven forbid, admit they might be wrong on this.

The biggest concern here, obviously, is that the new law will unnecessarily put lives at risk. But it's also worrisome that the go-to enforcement tactic appears to be bullying, even before the rules go into effect.