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A Walgreens pharmacy is pictured on Jan. 5 in New York City. Walgreens says it will not promote mifepristone in states the place Republican attorneys common threatened authorized motion.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
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Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
A Walgreens pharmacy is pictured on Jan. 5 in New York City. Walgreens says it will not promote mifepristone in states the place Republican attorneys common threatened authorized motion.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Walgreens will not distribute abortion capsules in states the place Republican officers have threatened authorized motion — together with some locations the place abortion remains to be authorized and out there. The pharmacy chain stated in a press release to NPR on Friday that it is nonetheless taking steps to promote the drug in “jurisdictions the place it’s authorized and operationally possible.”
The affirmation got here a month after 20 Republican state attorneys common, largely from states the place abortion is banned or closely restricted, despatched letters threatening Walgreens and different pharmacies with authorized motion in the event that they disbursed mifepristone, an abortion capsule.
The Food and Drug Administration finalized a brand new rule in January permitting retail pharmacies to get licensed to distribute the drug, and corporations together with Walgreens and CVS stated they’re making use of for certification. Medication abortion — not surgical procedure — is the most typical approach that individuals terminate pregnancies, particularly within the first trimester, when most abortions happen.
“At this time, we’re working by the certification course of” and never but distributing the drug anyplace, Walgreens stated in a letter to Kansas’ lawyer common final month. “Walgreens doesn’t intend to dispense Mifepristone inside your state.”
The firm stated in a press release to NPR that it has responded to the entire attorneys common to guarantee them it will not distribute mifepristone of their states.
Mifepristone — which is additionally used to ease miscarriages — remains to be allowed in a number of the states the place Walgreens will not promote it, together with Alaska, Iowa, Kansas and Montana. The state of affairs underscores how difficult it may be to acquire an abortion even in states the place it stays authorized.
The different pharmacy chains to which Republican attorneys common despatched their letters — together with CVS, Costco, Walmart, Rite Aid, Albertsons and Kroger — didn’t instantly reply to NPR’s request for remark about whether or not they’re contemplating following swimsuit.
For greater than twenty years, solely specialty workplaces and clinics may distribute mifepristone. An FDA choice in December 2021 completely allowed docs to prescribe mifepristone through telehealth appointments and ship the drug by the mail.
An ongoing case earlier than a Trump-appointed federal choose in Texas seeks to challenge the FDA’s authentic approval of mifepristone altogether.