Guess We're Not Shopping At Walgreens Anymore

The pharmacy chain will not dispense abortion pills — even in states where they are legal.

At the beginning of this year, the FDA announced new rules allowing for the drugs in the abortion pill cocktail to be sold at pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens rather than requiring them to be dispensed by a physician — which never made any sense to begin with. Naturally, anti-abortion types were very upset about this because they want very much to pretend that the abortion pills aren't safe and for everyone to just go along with them on that.

In response, Republican attorneys general from 20 states pitched 20 respective fits and sent angry letters to chains like CVS and Walgreens demanding that they not dispense abortion pills in their states. Walgreens, it has now been revealed, sent letters back to them agreeing to this — including in Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, and Montana, where abortions and abortion pills are currently legal.

In a simpering letter to Kansas AG Kris Kobach, Walgreens Executive Vice President Danielle C. Gray wrote:  

Dear General Kobach:

Thank you for your February 6, 2023 letter regarding the dispensing of Mifepristone in your state. Your letter acknowledges the complexity of this issue. While Walgreens has publicly expressed its intent to become a certified pharmacy under the Food and Drug Administration’s (“FDA”) program, the company has made clear that it would do so consistent with all applicable laws and as a result would not be able to dispense Mifepristone in all locations. Additionally, Walgreens has not made any representations about using our mail order pharmacy business to dispense this drug.

Walgreens is not currently dispensing Mifepristone in any of its locations. As you know, to become certified by the FDA, participating pharmacies must satisfy a range of safety and risk mitigation requirements to dispense this drug. At this time, we are working through the certification process, which includes the evaluation of our pharmacy network to determine where we will dispense Mifepristone and training protocols and updates for our pharmacists. Walgreens does not intend to dispense Mifepristone within your state and does not intend to ship Mifepristone into your state from any of our pharmacies. If this approach changes, we will be sure to notify you. We appreciate you communicating your concerns and trust that this response provides additional clarity.

Again, abortion is legal in Kansas, as are abortion pills. The people of Kansas voted on this last year and that is what they chose whether Kris Kobach likes it or not.

“In my letter to Walgreens, we made clear that Kansas will not hesitate to enforce the laws against mailing and dispensing abortion pills, including bringing a RICO action to enforce the federal law prohibiting the mailing of abortion pills,” Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach said in a statement to Politico. “Evidently, Walgreens understood that my office was serious about this. I’m grateful that Walgreens responded quickly and reasonably and intends to comply with the relevant laws.”

A RICO action? Seriously? Ob-gyns and pharmacists are the mob now?

For the record, there is no federal law prohibiting the mailing of abortion pills. The Justice Department determined earlier this year that abortion pills may be mailed even to states where they are illegal. Unfortunately, Walgreens' decision to bow to pressure from these creeps may have far-reaching effects, making other companies feel it is acceptable to go along with them.

Politico also quoted Students for Life spokesperson Kristi Hamrick's nauseating take on the situation.

“This response indicates that pro-life concerns are being heard and that corporations are not rushing to take over the abortion business but are proceeding cautiously,” she said.

No one should listen to their "concerns," because their "concerns" are stupid.

I have always been a big fan of Walgreens, but I will not be buying anything from them (or even staring at their As Seen On TV section for an oddly long amount of time before finally deciding I don't actually need a Shake Weight). No one who cares about abortion rights and access should. There are 70 Walgreens in Kansas, but around 100 in Chicago alone . There are 117 Duane Reade stores (same company) in New York City. We can be pretty sure they're making a whole lot more money, right now, from people who believe in abortion access than from those who do not. So perhaps they should listen to our concerns instead.

 Do your Amazon shopping through this link, because reasons .

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