California’s governor has pledged not to do business with Walgreens after the nation’s second-largest retail pharmacy banned the sale of abortion pills in 20 states that ban the procedure and the drugs needed to perform it.
Gavin Newson announced the decision Monday in a tweet that read, “We’re done,” following the company’s decision last week.
The move comes after Walgreens came under pressure from anti-abortion lawmakers not to sell the drug, mifepristone, which makes up half of the combination used to induce an abortion.
“California will not do business with @walgreens, or any company that cringes from extremists and puts women’s lives at risk,” Newsom tweeted.
Gavin Newson announced the decision Monday in a tweet that read, “We’re done,” following the company’s decision last week.
The move comes after Walgreens came under pressure from anti-abortion lawmakers not to sell the drug Mifepristone, which makes up half of the combination used to induce an abortion.
A Newsom spokesperson added that the state is reassessing its relationship with the retail pharmacy.
“We will not do business with companies that give in to right-wing thugs who push their extremist agenda or companies that put politics before the health of women and girls,” said Brandon Richards. CNBC.
It’s unclear if California will close Walgreens statewide.
The move comes just a couple of months after the Biden Administration updated a regulation to allow mifepristone, part of a two-drug cocktail to induce miscarriage, to be stocked and distributed in pharmacies to pregnant mothers with prescription.
Republican attorneys in these states sent letters to CVS, Rite Aid, Albertsons, Costco, Kroger, and Walmart.
In response, Danielle Gray of the Walgreens legal team saying: ‘As you know, in order to become FDA certified, participating pharmacies must meet a number of safety and risk mitigation requirements to dispense this medication.
“We are currently working through the certification process, which includes evaluating our pharmacy network to determine where we will dispense mifepristone and training protocols and updates for our pharmacists.”
The future of mifepristone is dim at best. A lawsuit filed in February by anti-abortion activists in Texas challenging the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the drug two decades ago.
The judge appointed to the case, Matthew Kacsmaryk, is a devout conservative appointed by Donald Trump. He is expected to side with pro-life activists.
Siding with the plaintiffs would significantly disrupt access to abortion across the country. It would effect access to an abortion even in states with no restrictions on the procedure.
Choice advocates are likely to appeal Kacsmaryk’s ruling.
The FDA has loosened restrictions on abortion-inducing drugs in recent years.
Medical abortion has been a lifeline for women in blue states and even red states since the Supreme Court struck down the federal guarantee for an abortion.
The combination of drugs, Mifepristone and Misoprostol, became available in local pharmacies in early 2023.
Women can also be prescribed the pills via telemedicine and mailed to them by an out-of-state provider.
According to the Justice Department, the US Postal Service can legally deliver abortion pills to people in states where the procedure is prohibited or restricted, saying federal law allows pills to be mailed because there is no way for the sender knows for sure if the recipient would use them illegally.
Medical abortion has become the most widely used method to terminate a pregnancy.
In 2020, the two-drug method accounted for 54 percent of all abortions in the US, compared to about 44 percent in 2019.
This is partly due to the rise of telemedicine and the general preference to stay away from doctors’ offices during the pandemic.
The legal landscape for abortion has been in flux ever since the Supreme Court dealt a fatal blow to legal access to abortion in the June 2022 decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
Abortion rights advocates in blue states, as well as in states with abortion restrictions, have been able to take solace in the fact that mifepristone, a drug that has been shown to be safer than carrying a pregnancy to term, will always be available. with a doctor’s input.
But the demand in Texas, in addition to increasing pressure like the one that Republican lawyers are showing here, seriously jeopardizes access to the drug.
For many women, medication is their only option to terminate a pregnancy.