Walgreens has agreed not to sell abortion pills by mail in 20 conservative-led states after Republican attorneys general warned against doing so in a letter last month, the Associated Press reported on Friday.
The retail pharmacy chain told Politico on Thursday that the company has assured the 20 attorneys general who sent the letter that they will not dispense abortion pills my mail or at brick-and-mortar locations in those states. Walgreens spokesperson Fraser Engerman also confirmed that, while the company is not currently dispensing mifepristone, the first pill used in a two-drug medication abortion regimen, it is working through an FDA-mandated certification process to become eligible to do so.
“[The company] will dispense only in those jurisdictions where it is legal to do so if we are certified,” Engerman said.
Nearly two dozen Republican state attorneys general wrote to Walgreens last month, as well as CVS, Albertsons, Rite Aid, Costco, Walmart, and Kroger, warning them not to dispense abortion pills. The attorneys general argued that the Biden administration is misconstruing laws around mailing and dispensing abortion pills and said they would consider pursing legal action if the chains dispensed abortion pills in their states.
State attorneys general sent the letters after the FDA made a regulatory change in early January allowing retail pharmacies to offer mifepristone in-store and by mail order, although patients will still need a prescription from a certified health care provider. After the rule change, spokespeople from Walgreens and CVS confirmed the chains would offer mifepristone at locations where it not against state law, and Rite Aid followed closely behind.
At the same time, the FDA officially removed the in-person requirement from its regulatory rule book for mifepristone, meaning women will continue to be able to obtain a prescription for the abortion pill via telemedicine. The FDA made the move the same day President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ) cleared the U.S. Postal Service to deliver abortion drugs to states with abortion restrictions and bans, offering “limited assurances that a federal law addressing the issue won’t be used to prosecute people criminally over such mailings,” according to Politico.
Pro-life activists and organizations have already planned and executed protests around the United States following the regulatory change, in addition to warnings from Republican attorneys general and state officials. On the other side of the political aisle, 23 Democrat state attorneys general told both CVS Health and Walgreens that they should continue with their plans to dispense abortion pills.
The battle over whether pharmacies will offer abortion pills also comes in the middle of a lawsuit out of Texas challenging the FDA’s approval of mifepristone, which could lead to mifepristone being taken off the market.
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