California pulls Walgreens contract over abortion pill decision

“California will not stand by as corporations cave to extremists and cut off critical access to reproductive care and freedom,” Newsom said in a statement. “California is on track to be the fourth largest economy in the world and we will leverage our market power to defend the right to choose.”

The news comes shortly after Newsom tweeted on Monday that California will cease business with Walgreens over the abortion pill issue.

“We are deeply disappointed by the decision by the state of California not to renew our longstanding contract due to false and misleading information,” Walgreens said in a statement. “Walgreens is facing the same circumstances as all retail pharmacies, and no other retail pharmacies have said that they would approach this situation differently, so it’s unclear where this contract would now be moved.”

Walgreens said that once it is certified by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, it will dispense the abortion pill, or mifepristone, in any jurisdiction where it is legally permissible to do so, including California.

Controversy over Walgreens’ stance on mifepristone was raised last week when the company said it would not sell it in states including Indiana, Kentucky and Missouri after receiving a joint letter sent by a group of 20 Republican state attorneys general threatening legal consequences if it decided to mail and distribute abortion medication in their states. The letter was also addressed to Walgreens competitor CVS Health.

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Since then, Democratic leaders from Newsom to Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, and U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Tammy Duckworth, have spoken or written to the company to express their concern and confusion over Walgreens’ decision.

In conversations with both Pritzker and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, Crain’s previously reported that Walgreens leaders doubled down on their position, explaining they were in significant legal jeopardy if they sold mifepristone in states in which Republicans are against it.

Issues surrounding mifepristone intensified earlier this year when Walgreens and CVS said they would seek certification to sell the pills after the FDA loosened restrictions on where the drugs could be dispersed. Previously, they could only be distributed in healthcare settings.

Walgreens’ decision on mifepristone is the pharmacy giant’s latest attempt at navigating a new set of state-by-state challenges ushered in by the end of Roe v. Wade, which protected a woman’s right to an abortion. With laws now varying across the U.S., and many states restricting or banning abortion, new questions and disputes are arising over abortion, including the use of mifepristone in certain states, putting Walgreens and CVS in the middle of a red-blue debate.

In response to the February letter from Republicans, 23 Democratic state attorneys general, including Raoul, sent their own letter to Walgreens and CVS pledging their support for offering mifepristone by mail.

This story first appeared in Crain’s Chicago Business.