California governor says the state will not work with Walgreens amid abortion pills row

According to Governor Gavin Newsom, the state of California will not be doing any business with Walgreens Boots Alliance. The governor published a tweet announcing this after the pharmacy retail chain said it would not sell abortion pills in some states dominated by Republicans.

California will not do business with Walgreens

Newsom, a Democrat governor, said that the state would not conduct any business with Walgreens or any other company that “cowers to the extremists and puts women’s lives at risk.”

A spokesperson for the governor’s office has also said that all the existing relationships between Walgreens and California had been placed under review. However, no additional details exist on how partnerships between the state and some companies would be affected.

This statement comes around two months after the US Food and Administration agency allowed retail pharmacies to sell an abortion pill known as mifepristone. This drug could be sold in-store or by mail. However, the FDA clarified that the drug could only be sold by retail pharmacies certified under the safety rules for using this drug.

Walgreens suspends sale of abortion pills in some stores

Last week, Walgreens issued a statement saying that it would not sell abortion pills in the states of 20 Republican attorney generals. These legal representatives warned the retail pharmacy that they risked being on the wrong side of the law if they continued dispensing these pills to the states by mail.

A spokesperson from the retail pharmacy chain said that the decision made by the company was a response to a letter sent by the attorney general’s office. The retail store has said that with plans to become a certified pharmacy, and it would only dispense these pills in the jurisdictions where it was legal to do so.

These developments come at a time when medication abortion has become a hot topic in the United States. Medication abortion accounts for over 50% of US abortions, but the matter has been under contention since the US Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that had classified abortion as a constitutional right.

However, the Mifepristone pill used alongside the misoprostol drug is approved for abortion when the pregnancy is less than 10 weeks old. However, despite this approval, the entire matter has attracted mixed reactions from Democrats and Republicans, making it challenging for pharmacy stores to know where they stand.

Walgreens had said that it would sell the Mifepristone abortion pill in the jurisdictions where it was legally allowed to sell these pills. “Once we are certified by FDA, we will dispense this medication consistent with federal and state laws,” Walgreens said.

The state of California is the first to stand up against retail pharmacy stores that are denying customers access to abortion pills. Walgreens is yet to clarify whether the decision by the state to abandon business dealings would result in the retailer going back on its decision.