CVS, Walgreens caught in red-blue crossfire on abortion pill
Democratic state attorneys general are ratcheting up pressure on Walgreens Boots Alliance and CVS Health to follow though on plans to dispense the abortion pill over warnings from Republican-led states.
In a letter to executives on Thursday, they urged the companies to ignore threats of legal action from the GOP states. The back-to-back letters come as abortion rights advocates and foes battle over access to the abortion pill — a fight that took on new urgency after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, sharply limiting or effectively barring the procedure in many states.
“In a time when access to abortion is under attack - now more than ever in the past 50 years — we stand in full support of pharmacies like Walgreens and CVS becoming FDA-certified to dispense and mail these essential medications and to make them available as broadly as possible,” the states, led by California, said in their letter.
The nation’s biggest pharmacy chains announced last month that they plan to seek U.S. certification to sell the pills used in medication abortion, after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration loosened restrictions on where the drugs could be dispensed. Previously, they could be distributed only in health care settings.
The move requires individual pharmacies to seek approval from the government to dispense the drugs in their stores. To do so, they must navigate a patchwork of state laws restricting or banning abortion access.
After Walgreens and CVS said they would seek this approval, a group of 20 Republican attorneys general sent a joint letter to executives at both companies warning that they could face legal consequences if they decide to mail and distribute medication abortion in their states.
The Justice Department said earlier this year that abortion pills can be distributed through the mail, but different state laws limit how residents can access the drugs. Arizona, Texas and Arkansas, for example, all ban people from receiving the medication through the mail.
“We are not dispensing mifepristone at this time,” Walgreens spokesperson Fraser Engerman said. “We intend to become a certified pharmacy under the program, however we will only distribute in those jurisdictions where it is legal to do so if we are certified.”
Mifepristone is used as part of a two-pill regimen to terminate a pregnancy within the first 10 weeks.
A CVS representative didn’t immediately return a request for comment on Thursday’s letter.
The letter urges the companies to carry on with their plans.
“We recognize that not all states support full and equal access to reproductive healthcare,” the states said. “It is our understanding from your public statements that while you are committed to making this medication available as broadly as possible in your pharmacies in response to the FDA’s recent actions, you are equally committed to doing so in compliance with both state and federal law.”
The fight may become moot if an antiabortion group has its way in a Texas lawsuit challenging FDA approval of mifepristone. Abortion providers are bracing for a decision that could remove the pill from the market as early as Feb. 24.