Walgreens says it will not promote abortion capsules in 20 GOP-led states, even the place it’s nonetheless authorized

One of many nation’s largest pharmacies stated Friday it would not dispense abortion capsules in some states, together with a number of the place remedy abortion stays authorized.

A bunch of 20 Republican attorneys normal warned CVS and Walgreens in a letter final month that they might face authorized penalties in the event that they promote abortion capsules by mail of their states.

The letter, from Missouri Legal professional Normal Andrew Bailey, was cosigned by attorneys normal in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia.

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Walgreens responded to the letter by saying it is not going to dispense the abortion tablet mifepristone in these states, Jim Cohn, a spokesperson for the corporate, confirmed to USA TODAY on Friday.

The record of states within the letter embrace some the place abortion is authorized each usually and relating to remedy abortion. These states embrace Kansas, Alaska, Iowa and Montana, Deliberate Parenthood representatives confirmed to USA TODAY.

Cohn stated Walgreens isn’t presently allotting mifepristone and as an alternative intends to undergo the certification course of to have the ability to distribute the drug “in these jurisdictions the place it’s authorized and operationally possible.”

Earlier this yr, the FDA dominated retail pharmacies may get licensed to dispense mifepristone and agree to simply accept prescriptions from licensed suppliers in the event that they meet requirements in transport, monitoring and confidentially storing drug-prescribing information

Pharmacies, together with CVS and Walgreens, shortly responded by saying they intend to bear the certification course of to offer the drug in states the place it’s authorized to take action.

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CVS has not responded to a number of USA TODAY requests for remark about their plans to dispense mifepristone within the 20 states included within the letter.

Melissa Fowler, chief program officer on the Nationwide Abortion Federation, the skilled affiliation of abortion suppliers, voiced considerations over pharmacies not offering mifepristone in states the place the abortion capsules are authorized.

“When companies give in to anti-abortion calls for, sufferers are those who lose,” she stated in an announcement. “Too many sufferers have already misplaced entry to important well being care on account of state abortion bans and we should always not enable abortion opponents to proceed taking part in video games with folks’s lives and denying them the care they want—particularly in states the place abortion stays authorized. Each affected person deserves to acquire abortion care within the time and place that’s proper for them.”

In the meantime, abortion rights advocates are awaiting a call by a federal decide in Texas that would decimate remedy abortion entry nationwide as anti-abortion teams goal the decades-long authorities approval of a key abortion drug. Medicine abortion is the most typical methodology for ending a being pregnant within the U.S.

Contact Christine Fernando at [email protected] or comply with her on Twitter at @christinetfern.

This text initially appeared on USA TODAY: Walgreens says it will not promote abortion capsules in 20 GOP-led states